Giannis Antetokounmpo
Born and raised in Athens to Nigerian parents, Antetokounmpo began playing basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens. In 2011, he began playing for the club's senior team before entering the 2013 NBA draft, where he was selected 15th overall by the Bucks. In 2016–17 he led the Bucks in all five major statistical categories and became the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 in all five statistics of total points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks.[7] He received the Most Improved Player award in 2017. Antetokounmpo has received eight All-Star selections, including being selected as an All-Star captain in 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2024 as he led the Eastern Conference in voting in these four years.
One of the most decorated players in NBA history,[8] Antetokounmpo won consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player Awards in 2019 and 2020, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to win two MVPs before turning 26. Along with his MVP award, he was also named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, becoming only the third player after Michael Jordan (1988) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) to win both awards in the same season. In 2021, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first NBA championship since 1971 and was named Finals MVP.[9] The same year, he was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[10]
The film Rise, based on the life of Antetokounmpo and his family,[11] was released in 2022
Early life
Giannis Sina Ugo Adétòkunbọ̀[12][13] was born in Athens, Greece, on December 6, 1994,[14] the son of immigrants from Nigeria.[15][16][17] His father had been a soccer player in Nigeria, while his mother was a high jumper. Three years earlier, they had moved from Lagos, leaving their firstborn son, Francis, under the care of his grandparents.[18] Adétòkunbọ̀ grew up in the Athens neighborhood of Sepolia[17] in a primarily Nigerian household.[19] His parents, as immigrants without work permits,[20] could not easily find work, so Giannis and his older brother Thanasis helped by hawking watches, handbags, and sunglasses in the streets.[21] In 2007, Adétòkunbọ̀ started playing basketball.[22]
Although Adétòkunbọ̀ and three of his four brothers were born in Greece, they did not automatically receive Greek citizenship as Greek nationality law follows jus sanguinis.[16] Growing up, he sometimes felt as an outsider to both the Greek and the Nigerian communities in Athens, due to his parents' heritage and different skin color in the former, and due to his lack of understanding of the Yoruba or Igbo languages in the latter.[23] For the first 18 years of his life, Adétòkunbọ̀ could not travel outside the country and was effectively stateless, having no papers from Greece or Nigeria.[22] He was eventually issued Greek citizenship on May 9, 2013,[24] less than two months before the NBA draft.[22]
After gaining Greek citizenship, his official surname became Αντετοκούνμπο, the Greek transcription of Adetokunbo, which was then transliterated letter-for-letter and officially spelled on his Greek passport as Antetokounmpo.[25][26] Giannis is a Modern Greek variant of Ioannes (John).[27] Because many NBA fans could not pronounce his surname, he quickly became known as the "Greek Freak".[28][29] Antetokounmpo also holds Nigerian citizenship,[12] having received his Nigerian passport in 2015,[19] and as such possesses dual citizenship.[30][31] He has stated that he feels both Greek and Nigerian[23] and that he embraces both his Greek, as well as his African/Nigerian identity.
Filathlitikos (2011–2013)
In 2011, Antetokounmpo played with the senior men's team of Filathlitikos in the semi-pro Greek B Basket League (Third Division) during the 2011–12 season.[32]
In December 2012, a few days after turning 18, Antetokounmpo signed a four-year deal with Spanish club CAI Zaragoza,[33] reportedly including NBA buyouts after each season. Several other major European clubs had been interested in adding him, including Barcelona and Anadolu Efes.[16]
During the 2012–13 Greek A2 League season, Antetokounmpo shot 46.4% from the field (62.1% on two-point field goals), 31.3% from three-point range, and 72.0% from the free throw line, while averaging 22.5 minutes per game. Over 26 games, he averaged 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game.[34] He was also selected by the coaches as a special participant in the 2013 Greek League All-Star Game. Even though he was not selected as an all-star, the coaches let him play in the game as a treat for the fans, since he was in attendance at the game.[35] However, he did not get officially counted as an all-star selection, since only players that play in Greece's first division are even eligible to actually be voted to play in the game, and Antetokounmpo was playing in Greece's second division at the time.
On April 28, 2013, Antetokounmpo officially made himself eligible for the 2013 NBA draft.[36] He fulfilled his draft projections as a first-round pick by being selected 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks. On July 30, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Bucks.[37][38]
Antetokounmpo made his NBA debut on October 13, 2013, at the age of 18 years, 311 days, as one of the youngest NBA players ever. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 77 appearances during his rookie season. He scored in double figures 23 times and grabbed at least 10 rebounds twice, with both efforts resulting in double-doubles. He finished the season with 61 total blocks, which led all NBA rookies, and was the seventh-most by a Bucks rookie in franchise history. He was selected to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, where he tallied nine points, two rebounds, and two assists in 17 minutes. At the season's end, he was named to the 2013–14 NBA All-Rookie second team.[39]
In the 2015–16 season, Antetokounmpo developed further individually, upping his scoring average to almost 17 points per game. On November 19, he scored a then career-high 33 points in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.[43] On December 12, he recorded a near triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists, helping the Bucks snap the Golden State Warriors' 24-game unbeaten start to the season with a 108–95 win.[44] On February 22, 2016, Antetokounmpo recorded his first career triple-double with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 108–101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. At 21 years old, he became the youngest Buck to record a triple-double.
On April 15, 2017, Antetokounmpo scored a then playoff career-high 28 points in a 97–83 win over the third-seed Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.[58] In Game 5 of the series on April 24, Antetokounmpo set a new playoff career-high with 30 points, but could not lead the Bucks to a win as they lost 118–93 to go down 3–2 in the series.[59] The Bucks went on to lose Game 6 three days later despite a 34-point effort from Antetokounmpo, ending their season
