Greece lobs conspiracy accusations against Bucks, NBA over Giannis Antetokounmpo injury

The Greek basketball federation is accusing the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA of conspiring to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo from competing for his country in this summer’s European championship, the Associated Press is reporting (via NBA.com).

About an hour after Antetokounmpo wrote on Facebook and Instagram that a painful knee injury will keep him out of the EuroBasket tournament, Greek basketball officials released a statement that said, “A series of indications ... had convinced us of the existence of an organized and well-staged plan by (the Bucks), with the full knowledge if not encouragement of the NBA that put the athlete on the spot and forced him to announce today that he is no longer part of the men's national team."

Players’ participation in international competition has long been a bone of contention for NBA teams, since the teams are not insured against injuries.

The Bucks, according to the AP report, were concerned about Antetokounmpo’s knee issue and administered a physical while he’s been on a tour of China. Because of the injury, he played in only one warm-up game for the Euros, but he was to join the Greek squad as it prepared for the tournament, which tips Aug. 31. However, he failed the physical.

"It is by far the biggest disappointment in my career," Antetokounmpo wrote of not playing at EuroBasket, as translated from Greek by the AP.

Something doesn’t smell quite right to Greece basketball officials.

"The simultaneous report by the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo himself, by phone and social media from faraway China, and not by the appropriate official manner, of his inability to join the national men's team saddens us ... but is not surprising," the federation’s statement said.