Greek Freak: Who is Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Antetokounmpo's origins, in addition to his height, speed, strength, and ball-handling skills, have earned him the nickname "Greek Freak". Antetokounmpo is considered one of the best power forwards and best European players of all time.

Born and raised in Athens as the child of a Nigerian family, Antetokounmpo started playing basketball in the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens. He started playing for the club's senior team in 2011 and was selected in the 1st round, 15th overall, by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo (December 6, 1994) is a Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His country of origin, in addition to his size, speed, and strength have earned him the nickname "Greek Freak". He is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards and one of the greatest players of all time.

I saw Giannis for the first time in the Filathlitikos team. When he started training with the under-16 team and the A team at the same time, the team was in the Greek Third League. When I first watched it, I was very surprised, even shocked. Anyone who knows basketball will understand how I feel. In fact, at first glance, he was not very tall and looked no different from other children. He grabbed a defensive rebound, made a few good plays past his opponents, and drove to the basket. After that day, around 2010-2011, I was trying to adjust my entire calendar accordingly. I watched 70-80 percent of his home games until the year he was drafted by the NBA.

If you ask me, Giannis' most important skill is that he can take on anyone. He has no fear of anyone. I have met dozens of talented players: Papaloukas, Spanoulis, Diamantidis... But I have never met anyone with the personality of Giannis. Because we are talking about someone who went to the streets at the age of 10 to feed his family and earn money. He grew up in Sepolia, a poor neighborhood, and stayed there until he was 14. When he was little, he sold glasses, watches, and similar things on the street and participated in training to earn money and feed himself.

It must have been the 2010-11 season, he was training twice a day, covering the 7-8 kilometers between Sepolia and Zografou every day, either by bus or on foot. I remember he was overwhelmed at this pace. He felt very bad because he said he could not sell things and bring in money for his family. There were six people in total at home, including four siblings and their parents. Don't understand too much when I say food, I'm talking about eating enough to survive. Sometimes that's just enough money to buy two croissants in total. The family did not have enough food for all. That's why Giannis had thoughts that bothered him, and after a while, he even thought about quitting basketball because he couldn't make money.

His family, and especially Giorgos, supported him to continue playing basketball. From those days, Giorgos became not only his manager but also his guide. Afterward, Giannis also realized how good he was. He decided to try his luck by starting to train twice a day with two different groups of the same team. At the beginning of that summer, he went from 80 kilograms to 87 kilograms. He started doing crazy things in training and realized that he had to continue playing basketball. His mother also forced him to study at school because Giannis was a very good student. Again, in my opinion, Giannis' character was the most important factor that helped him. He was too ambitious to leave anything to anyone on the field. I remember when he was competing in the Greek League without any experience at the top levels. When Giannis was 16 years old, he was fighting against names that were much more experienced and massive than him. I'm talking about 35-36 year old guys. They were fouling him, going at him, you could see it was incredibly challenging.

One of his habits is this. When he sprained his ankle during the match, you would think that he would be back on the court in a month. However, he returns two minutes later and plays his best game. I've seen this at least 5-6 times. If a player sprains his ankle very badly and returns to the field one minute later and plays an incredible game, you know that that player is different. In short, if you ask me, the basis of Giannis' extraordinary development lies in his character arising from the conditions of his growth.

I can tell many stories about him. First of all, there is a madman hidden inside you. He is a different person on and off the field. He is very gentle outside. Even when he went to the NBA, he was very kind to me, as he was to everyone older than him.

Greece has received immigration from many countries for many years. People from different countries came from Syria to Nigeria. On the other hand, Giannis was Greece's chance. We talked about his character, but his physique is also the best I have seen in basketball. Despite his height, his game philosophy, perspective, and skills are like a playmaker. Incredibly smart. He has a big ego which he directs correctly. Therefore, it can reach even larger audiences, not just the people it currently affects. It may change how politicians approach immigrants. Nearly six million people live in Athens and two million of this population consists of immigrants. You must also create a system that can give these people a chance. Most importantly, you must provide them with identity documents. Giannis had no citizenship and no permission to travel outside Greece until he turned 18. He was playing basketball all over Greece with some documents. If he had continued to stay in Greece after the age of 18 and did not have a passport, he would not have been able to play basketball even in the local leagues. So it's not just about Giannis, it's about thousands of people...

Giannis was able to get his passport within the last three months before leaving for the USA, and there are two different stories behind this. First, because Nigeria made several regulations, Giannis lost his chance to obtain a Greek passport before traveling to the United States on draft day. He would have a Nigerian passport because there was no other way he could fly to the USA. On the other hand, he was told to obtain Spanish citizenship with the Cotonou Agreement. An important offer came to him from Spain. However, he did not accept this. He was patient and waited to get a Greek passport. Because when you go to school in a new country, you go as someone who has never seen another culture before. Giannis is 100 percent Nigerian because of where he comes from. Because both his mother and father are Nigerian. However, as a human being; His experiences, his culture, his reactions, even his sense of humor and way of thinking are 100 percent Greek. The important thing here was that he remained calm and patient during a very difficult and dangerous process. So I know there is a ray of hope for people like him. A source of inspiration.

He loves playing PlayStation.

He lost his father very suddenly. From a heart attack... I think it was the hardest moment in his life. I know that every morning when he wakes up, he thinks about his father. He sets goals for himself. He likes to write these goals on paper. He also writes about what he heard from names like Kobe Bryant and his trusted friends. According to his approach, the real medals he won in life are the lessons he learned from his experiences.

He likes to exercise his mind. Have you noticed that, like LeBron James' pre-game ritual, Giannis has a ritual where he moves from one basket to another with little dance moves? He does the same move every match. This is an act he dedicates to his father. Pay attention, you will see this move where he will go towards the basket and hit his chest. Did you know that the names of family members are written on all shoes designed by Nike? Another pair of shoes is a red and white model we call 'Güller'. Because his father's favorite color was red and the rose was his favorite flower.

His father was a very good football player. He played for the Nigerian National Team. He and his wife had to leave the country during the civil war. His mother, Veronica, was also a high jumper. They traveled to ten countries in Europe to find a new home. One of the countries they went to was Turkey. If they had stayed there, Giannis would be playing for Türkiye right now. So it's a complete coincidence that he was born in Greece. While they were looking for a country to live in, his father was tested by a Bundesliga team. They were testing five players and it was down to the final two. But he ruptured his cruciate ligaments and was cut from the team. Then he thought about coming to Greece because he read that schools were free for everyone in Greece. This led them to Athens. Perhaps one of the great breakthroughs in sports history...

Giannis founded an association and named it after his father. In the camp, there will only be children who have no money, who are refugees, who have lost their families, and who live in Sepolia. The camp will be for two years and scholarships will be given to the children. Giannis wants this foundation to help people even after he retires from basketball and even after he dies. In short, he wants this association to live forever. He wants to do things like LeBron does, he wants to open schools, he has said this officially many times.

Another thing that impresses me about Giannis is that he never forgets anything. When he came to Greece, he loved walking in the neighborhood where he grew up. While walking, he tries to remember the faces he encounters from his childhood and school years. He hasn't forgotten anyone anyway. For example, while walking with his brother on the way to school some days, a small shop owner who saw their miserable state gave them toast, water, and orange juice. Giannis remembers him when he saw him on his first visit. He supports the shop during the economic crisis. Even the whole neighborhood...

If you are friends with Giannis and went to his match, the end of the match is not enough for you to see him. Because he does a training session after every match. Only one day out of 10 does he go straight to dinner after the match. He trains immediately on the other nine days. Even though he played for at least 35 minutes in the match... I have never seen a basketball player do such special post-match training in my life. I don't know if it's a good thing that he trains so much.

NBA adventure

Antetokounmpo, one of the most decorated players in NBA history, won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award consecutively in 2019 and 2020, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to win two MVPs before the age of 26. In addition to the MVP award, he was selected as the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, becoming 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 title since 1971 and was named Finals MVP. That same year, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, honoring him as one of the league's greatest players of all time.