ATHENS (Greece) - Greece coach Vasilis Spanoulis has confirmed Giannis Antetokounmpo will play for the national team when it hosts the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus.

Spanoulis was in a press conference for his club side Peristeri on Saturday when a journalist asked if the two-time NBA MVP would be at the OQT being held July 2 to July 7 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. Biggest rivals Slovenia are also expected to have Luka Doncic, and there are other strong national teams taking part.

"Yes, Giannis will be present in the national team," Spanoulis replied.

Evangelos Liolios, Hellenic Basketball Federation, had said in an interview with Sport24 last month that "having Giannis with us, the big star of the national team, is, of course, something we want. It's something he wants, too."

Greece had a solid World Cup campaign last summer yet clearly missed Antetokounmpo, who had led FIBA EuroBasket 2022 in scoring with an average of 29.3 points per game. He was also No. 1 in efficiency per game at 32.7.

Antetokounmpo has turned out for Greece on numerous occasions.

He featured for the national team at the FIBA Basketball World Cups in 2014 and 2019, at EuroBasket 2015, at the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin and in European Qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup.

FIBA