The 2024 pre-Olympic basketball tournament is just a few hours away and for about a week, the Stadium of Peace and Friendship will host 6 teams vying for one ticket to Paris and the Olympics.
From the 2nd of July to Sunday the 7th of the month, some of the best names in both European and world basketball will be found in Faliro, as together with the Greek National Team, the French dream is taking place in Slovenia , Croatia too. , the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Egypt.
It is of course easy to see that the big names are mainly focused on the rosters of Greece, Slovenia and Croatia. In fact, we are talking about long range players even in the NBA.
Names like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic create a huge “shine” in themselves and will also be the main attraction in the SEF, and they will create great conditions for very interesting “duels” inside the stadium.
Who will be the big stars in Greece in the coming days and will try to lead their countries to Paris?
John Antetokounmpo
The “Greek Freak” despite the fact that he was forced to miss the NBA Play Offs due to injury, he will be back in the National Team. Giannis Antetokounmpo will even have by his side, one of his brothers, Kostas, who managed to win the Euroleague last season, adding to his trophy case, along with the NBA ring, which Giannis also has.
Luke Doncic
The … magician Luka Doncic will also be at the SEF, after a really full season in the NBA, during which he even reached the finals of the championship with the Dallas Mavericks, however, he was not able to celebrate the victory himself . In fact, the Slovenian star revealed a few days ago that even now the fatigue is great and he is in pain from the injuries but he is more eager to reach the goal of qualifying with his national team.
Vlatko Cancer
Another NBA champion, Vlatko Cansar, will also be in Faliro with the Slovenian national team. The 27-year-old forward with a height of 2.03 meters is in the Denver Nuggets with whom he celebrated the conquest of the NBA at the end of the 2022-23 season. This season, however, due to a serious knee injury, he was unable to play, but it seems that he will remain on the other side of the Atlantic.
Josh Nimbo
One of the main “cogs” of Maccabi Tel Aviv last season, Josh Nimbo is also in the last 12 of the pre-Olympic tournament in SEF for Slovenia. A few days ago, Armani Milano announced him, and in the completed season, he averaged 11.2 points with 7.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 23:43 minutes of participation at the Euroleague level. He even made it to the Play Offs and one breath away from the Final Four, eventually being eliminated by Panathinaikos.
Mario Hezonia
A fairly familiar player, who has also played on Greek courts in the past. Mario Hezonia has had another busy season, having been a bit confused over the last few months about who his next team will be, as he ended up staying at Real Madrid, in the “Queen’s” shirt, reaching as far with the Euroleague. in the final where his former team, Panathinaikos, defeated him.
On average in the best European competition, he averaged 13.5 points with 4.6 rebounds in just over 23 minutes on the floor.
Ivica Zubac
The 27-year-old center (2.13 m) may have been born in Bosnia, but he is one of the players on the Slovenian national team that also competes in the NBA. Specifically, Ivica Zubac has been wearing the jersey of the Los Angeles Clippers for 5 years, and in the season that ended, he averaged 16.2 points with 9.3 rebounds and 1 assist in 32 minutes of participation.
Chris Duarte
However, there is also an NBA player from the Dominican Republic. Specifically, the reason Chris Duarte, who was Sasha Vezhenkov’s teammate last year in Sacramento Kings, averaged 3.9 points with 1.8 rebounds. The 27-year-old guard with a height of 1.96 meters has also spent three years with the Indiana Pacers.