It’s Day 4 of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the ongoing basketball matchup between Greece and Spain is bringing with it some unexpected surprises! Despite their abysmal record during the exhibition games, fans of the Greece national team were expecting star player Giannis Antetokounmpo to turn things around. Now, as the two European countries meet on the Olympic stage, Spain holds a 51-39 lead by halftime. Furthermore, the ‘Greek Freak’ is certainly not living up to the expectations.

By the time the second half commenced, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the scoring effort for his team by adding 13 points to the overall score. Unfortunately, the same came by players only going 6-10 with his field goals and dropping 0-pointers. On top of that, criticism was raised over his poor dribbling, which the Spain team was able to take advantage of and prevent him from making any points in the second quarter. It didn’t take long for him to get overshadowed by Sergio Llull aka the ‘Spanish Stephen Curry.’

By the time 4:40 minutes were left in the 3 quarter, he had 11 points to the score by going 4-5 with his field goals and 3-4 with his three-pointers. Furthermore, the player easily circumvented Giannis’s defense to put shot after shot!

Having found a better player to root for, basketball fans decided to make their criticism of the ‘Greek Freak’ known.

Fans react as Giannis Antetokounmpo goes through a rough streak

No sooner had the game reached its half point when viewers descended onto social media to share their reaction. Being impressed by what he saw, one person just had to ask about the hype behind “Spanish Steph Curry.”

It was Real Madrid player and Llull’s teammate, Dzanan Musa, who first drew a comparison between the Spaniard and the Golden State Warriors star. During the course of the Spanish ACB semifinals held in June 2024, Sergio Llull went on to hit 4 three-pointers, with one of them delivered from almost half-court to beat the third-quarter buzzer. Along with Musa, he added 18 points to the overall score. This prompted Lull’s teammate to exclaim “I’ve only seen Steph Curry make the 3-pointers he [LLull] makes.”

Another social media user also sang the praise of Llull. He proceeded to highlight his belief that the ‘Greek Freak’ would have gotten “freaked out” (most probably pun intended) by his opponent’s shots and may have underestimated him.

With the matchup having concluded, Giannis was able to make all but one three-pointer attempt during his lengthy stint on the court. While he led the scoring effort with his 27 points, he missed 5 field goals and two free throws that ultimately played a role in the 84-77 loss. While Sergio Llull only scored half of what his rival did, he did make 3-6 three-pointers and, along with Santi Aldama, led Spain to their first win of the 2024 Olympics.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo may be considered the GOAT on the NBA court, one basketball fan was not ready to give him the same title when playing on the international stage. Using some self-burn humor, he highlighted Giannis’s poor dribbling and shooting ability.

The criticism of the 2021 NBA champion stemmed from how he reportedly used a double dribble when looking to break the defense put up by 4 Spanish players. On top of that, he ended up missing a crucial three-pointer during the last minute that could have changed the tide of the game. Having been aware of the player’s signature one-dribble pull-up, Sergio Llull and co used the advantage and stopped any further shots from going in. With Greece now at 0-2 after their recent loss, Giannis may not even get the chance to rectify his error.

Keeping the praise of Sergio Llull alive, Basketball reporter Gary Washburn didn’t shy away from making some NBA comparisons. According to him, the Spanish player’s recent performance put him on the same pedestal as former LA Clippers star Jamal Crawford.

In his 20-year journey with the US’s top basketball league, Crawford was exceptional as a point guard. While he never secured a championship ring, or MVP title or was ever named to an All-Star team, he gained a reputation for being an elite shooter, especially when it came to free throws. After all, not everybody averaged a free throw percentage of 86.2% over two decades. While Llull would be compared on the same level as Stephen Curry by his teammate, this reporter has chosen to go in a separate direction.

Overall, the reactions were quite positive towards Sergio Llull, while dismissing Giannis Antetokounmpo. Having set the score to 1-1 now, Spain will live to fight another day, while Greece’s chances of finally securing an Olympic medal may be at an end.

Before you go, remember to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.