Let's be honest: none of us really know what Giannis Antetokounmpo is supposed to do this week during the U-20 European Championships in Estonia. As NBA fans, the vast majority of us don't know anyone else on the Greek team, we don't know what Antetokounmpo's role is supposed to be playing with guys mostly older than him, and we're not even sure how to gauge the level of competition. But even though we know painfully little about the context, we're all curious to see Antetokoumpo play and hopefully do something to inspire a bit of hope for the not-so-distant future.
So while no one outside the gym actually saw it, the good news is that it certainly seems like Antetokounmpo's first game was a success.
Coming off the bench (remember: starting isn't considered such a big deal outside of North America), Giannis played 33 minutes and helped Greece comeback from an 11-point deficit to down Serbia 79-73 in the Greece's group play opener. Antetokounmpo scored nine of his 14 points (4/6 fg, 2/2 threes, 4/6 ft) in the fourth quarter (OMG HE'S CLUTCH!!!) and added five boards, two steals and a block with a game-high +22 differential. You can check out his block and a transition dunk in the highlights above, but otherwise there's not much else to see.
Greece's group schedule continues on Thursday against Germany, followed by Georgia on Friday and Lithuania on Saturday. You can track all of Giannis' stats at his player page here, and we'll of course bring you all the news and video that we can dig up. Just don't expect us to tell you what it all means.