(this is not just about sports, the core is political and historical, please read through, this is NOT just about basketball)
If you follow this blog long enough, perhaps you know I am a big supporter of the Greek National Basketball team. I started watching basketball pretty much the last 10 years. I love our athletes. Greece is amongst the European countries that are famous for their basketball culture. But the latest generation of Greek players, while good and skilled athletes and very often champions in their sports clubs in European basketball, they were not lucky with the national team. Greece had not taken a medal for 16 years and every time this generation of players started a new tournament full of hope to contribute to the heavy legacy of the previous generations, their dreams and hopes were shattered. This became especially painful when the Greek NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo became a part of this team, 10 years now or something, because the hope grew bigger and yet it was still not enough. Giannis, known in the NBA for his ambition and winner mentality, took it personally that we could not make it to the final four, even.
This year everything started once more, in this Eurobasket. This time the coach was Greek basketball legend Vassilis Spanoulis. Giannis was once again here. What's more, some others of Greece's elite players like Kostas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou have been growing old, and this will be potentially their last tournament. So, there was a lot of anxiety for achieving something good eventually. For some, it might be the last chance. Unfortunately, we did not have our best center in this team. We did not have our best point guard who was injured. A lot of positions had to be filled with role players and the bench. When our team started the tournament, all Greeks had waved off any chance for success. The team was doubted.
And yet Greece reached the semi-finals (the final four) with only one insignificant loss beforehand. In the semifinals the game was against Turkey, which has created the best team in its history this year, probably. Greece suffered a heavy loss from Turkey. The reasons for this were: a) Turkey has indeed an all around better team this year, b) Turkish players came in ready to play ferociously, c) Greek players lost their nerve and played their worst and most importantly d)the Turkish national coach works in a Greek sports club, which means he is the one who coaches most of these Greek players all year around and plays against the other half Greek players all year around. In other words the Turkish coach probably knew better the Greek players than the Greek national coach who only spends like a month and a half with them. So, the heavy loss was normal and this is why the Greek players lost their shit so easily. It was like their own coach playing against them, knowing all their weaknesses.
Greece would then play for bronze with Finland and Turkey would play for the cup with Germany. Greek players were sad, we fans were very sad, but the Turks had won fairly and many of us wished them good luck forward.
But here's what happened just after the game:
a) the Turkish coach proclaimed himself "the best coach of Europe"
b) the official Turkish Basketball federation posted a picture of Giannis praying and behind him their own young star Alperen Sengun dunking during training, and labeled this "NO MERCY". Very tactful. The Greek basketball federation complained and the post was deleted while the Turkish coach claimed the one who posted it was fired. Of course nobody believes him but the acknowledgement of the mistake was something, I guess.
c) said Turkish 23 year old NBA player Alperen Sengun said in the press conference that Giannis - the famous Milwaukee Bucks MVP you all probably know - "is not a good passer"
d) the same player, Alperen Sengun, posted on his Instagram a photo of his team with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk seated in front of them, right after Greece's defeat. For context, Ataturk is considered Turkey's ethnarch, but he also happens to be the orchestrator of the Greek, the Armenian and the Assyrian genocides of 1922 - 1923. So, with which of the two qualities did Sengun post a photo of Ataturk? If I judge from the fact that he elected to post this only after the game with Greece in specific and none of the other countries they defeated, it's clear it was with his quality as a perpetrator of ethnic cleansing.
e) the same player, Alperen Sengun, posted just after the game another post on Instagram, citing a romantic Turkish song with a lyric that roughly translates to "isn't the sea breeze always nice?". This might seem harmless to you but actually he used it as a reference to the favourite motto of the Turkish nationalists of "We threw the Greeks into the sea" or the "We taught the Greeks how to swim". This is a reference to the incident of the Great Fire of Smyrna, lasting from 13 to 22 September 1922, when Turks burned the Greek, Armenian and other Christian districts of the city of Smyrna ("Giaur Izmir" as they called it, meaning "infidel Smyrna") and those Greeks they did not manage to kill, burn or rape to death, they pushed them to the city's port and drowned them inside the sea. This is what the international NBA player of Turkey was referencing. To give credit where it's due, there were also Turkish fans warning Sengun that he was taking it too far, but Alperen did not delete any post and simply deactivated the comments.
There was no commentary from any Greek player.
Two days later. Today. Greece came out and played a good game against the also strong and civilized Finnish team. Greece won the bronze with an emphatically good game from most players, above all Giannis of course. With humility, all Greek players including famous NBA MVP Giannis, celebrated the victory. Giannis even said that this, the bronze, was perhaps his greatest achievemen, because it was something he wanted for so long, and it was for country and for the family.
Once our job was done and the bronze was won, coach Spanoulis and best player Giannis addressed firmly but still way more elegantly the bullcrap coming out of Sengun's mouth in the press conference. Spanoulis said that Sengun was too young to have any opinion on Giannis.
Then it was the game of Turkey against Germany. Turkey was one small step ahead for most of the game. But you know what, German players are very experienced and they were not ready to give up their title as European champions. In the last minutes of the game, it was the Turkish star Alperen Sengun who lost the three pointer shot that would define the game. Sengun, the arrogant genocide apologist kiddo star, after all his work and fanatism to get them there, lost them the championship.
Sengun boy, too much sea can make one seasick.
Giannis Antetokounmpo as one of the top 5 players of the tournament watched the final game to be awarded later, next to the pouty Sengun who thought Giannis "is not a good passer". Giannis congratulated Germany, hugged the leader of the German team and all celebrated together, while leaving the sour Sengun and most of the Turkish team in the side, with even the Germans barely interacting with them. Famous Giannis, humble and happy for the bronze, and the young arsehole proud of mass murders who celebrated a bit too early and then was the very reason his country lost the championship on the side, like he was denied his ice cream.
And because a picture is a thousand words:
You know, I mean what I say XD
And I am really not exaggerating in any of this…
Giannis refused to shake hands with Sengun but Sengun was downright unpleasant to everybody anyway. He could barely stand shaking the hand of Germany’s MVP Dennis Schröder. Look how he looks at their handshake…
I am hearing Turkish media are already dragging Sengun. Their coach Ataman had at least the decency to honestly say in the press conference that he was too angry and disappointed to talk about Sengun's lost 3-pointer and that he "perhaps had spoken too much too early and should stop speaking now".
So, if anyone is wondering why I write so much about this, again, this is not about basketball. This is to show you, that even now, even 100 years later, the Greek genocide of Asia Minor and Pontus is not a thing of the past. Some still get fanatical about it, in FAVOUR of it. And some of them happen to be NBA stars... earning millions...
You need to know and understand this, especially this night, September 14th, because today was the Day of Remembrance of the Greek genocide of Asia Minor and East Thrace.
This is not about basketball, but even silly basketball can feel like some tiny comfort, when you are so proud of the quality and ethos of your players that the bronze turns gold in their hands, and when the genocide apologist becomes the culprit of a lost championship he wanted THAT bad. Well done to our Greek team, you deserved this a long time now. Well done to Germany, two time champions back to back. Well done to the other players of Turkey too, they are a great team. Sengun, eat that, boy, you were the star and you lost the match, and I hope soon enough everyone you work with realises what you are. So much arrogance and trashtalk, and Greece still has two championships and 6 medals, while Turkey has been patting their shoulders so much just for their second ever medal... Whatever, enough talk for them.
Remember the September 14th and the Greek Genocide of Asia Minor.
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