Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham talked about the contrast in how Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo approaches the game while playing for Greece and how he performs with his mother club in the NBA.
Ham is a member of the Bucks delegation who made the trip to Cyprus to observe Antetokounmpo‘s performance in the 2025 Eurobasket. And based on what he’s seen so far, the former Los Angeles Lakers head coach said that the Greek Freak plays differently with the national team than he does in the NBA.
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“It’s more team-oriented, more sets and all that here. They don’t play as fast as we do in the NBA, but in the NBA, his usage rate is off the charts. He always constantly has the ball in his hands, so it’s a little bit of a role for him over there. He does a great job of including his teammates and allowing things to happen and take place. And with us, he has to be Superman, but it’s good. It’s good to be able to see him do both,” Ham pointed out.
Spanoulis planned like Giannis wasn’t coming
Giannis is one of the best players in the NBA, and as such, he is asked to do a lot for the Bucks. He is also among the players with the highest usage rates in recent years. Antetokounmpo has ranked in the Top 10 in that statistical category since 2020 and has been the league leader thrice during that span – 2020, 2023, and 2025.
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But while he is used to doing the heavy lifting in Milwaukee, it’s not the same when he plays for the Greek national team, especially not the current one, because he missed half of Hellas’ tune-up games. According to a report from BasketNews, Greece head coach Vassilis Spanoulis planned for the 2025 EuroBasket as if Antetokounmpo wasn’t coming.
“Consequently, Spanoulis had to design a system that could function both with and without him in the short term, then integrate him on the fly. That is an unusually tight tactical timeline for a player whose usage has such a massive ripple effect,” wrote Giorgos Kyriakidis.
Maybe Darvin spoke too soon
But shortly after Darvin talked about Giannis’ lesser role on the current Greek team, Antetokounmpo went on Superman mode during their 2025 FIBA Eurobasket opener against Italy at Spyros Kyprianou Arena. With the majority of the 7,000 people in the audience being Greek fans, Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished two assists in 29 minutes of playing time as Greece opened their campaign with a 75-66 victory.
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Antetokounmpo shot 14-20 from the field, taking 58.8 percent of the team’s total two-point shots and 38.4 percent of their total shot attempts during the game. With the Italians threatening at 71-66 in the final minute of the game, Giannis powered home a thunderous dunk that put the game away. Because of his efforts, the Greek Freak was named the TCL Player of the Game.
Next up for the Hellas will be Cyprus on Saturday, and it will be interesting to see which version of Giannis will show up. But while his usage rate might not be as high as when he plays in the NBA, expect Antetokounmpo to carry a lot of the load again as Greece looks to win its first European competition since 2005.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 30, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.