By Tseyi Agharaye
Kaftanpost
He’s Greek, but proudly Nigerian. Giannis Antetokounmpo one of the raves of the moment in the American National Basketball Association (NBA) league, could, by his looks, pass for one of those African American superstars in the NBA. Though black, he’s not one of them.He was born in Greece to Nigerian parents and is often referred to as the “Greek Freak”, ostensibly due to his rags to riches story.
His rise to fame and fortune began in 1991when his parents, Charles and Veronica Adetokunbo left Lagos to Greece in hopes of a better future for themselves and their family after struggling to find stable and sustainable employment at home. The Adetokunbos eldest son, Francis, was left behind in Lagos to be raised by his grandparents.
While in Greece, his father worked as a handyman and mother, as a baby sitter in their struggle to make ends meet for their family, which was the only black one in the area. The Adetokunbos had four more sons, all born in Greece, including Giannis. His surname remained Adetokunbo until after it was misspelled as Antetokounmpo on his Greek passport after securing Greek citizenship, which came after so much efforts. Though Antetokounmpo and three of his four sibblings were born in Greece, they did not automatically qualify to receive full Greek citizenship as Greece does not have birthright citizenship. For the first 18 years of his life Antetokounmpo was effectively stateless, having no papers from Nigeria or Greece.
Giannis grew up in Greek culture, learning the language, going to school and eventually starting to play basketball at age 7. But when he was home with his family, he learned and lived the Nigerian way.
Giannis told The Undefeated magazine: “I grew up in a Nigerian home. Obviously, I was born in Greece and went to school in Greece. But at the end of the day when I go home, there is no Greek culture. It’s straight-up Nigerian culture. It’s about discipline, it’s about respecting your elders, having morals.”
“That background as a kid is where my work ethic is coming from. I saw my parents every single day working hard to provide for us, it was unbelievable and has stuck to me my whole life.
“I don’t do it because I want to get fame or because I want the money, that is just how I am built and how I am and all that comes from my parents and how they hustled.”
Giannis and his family did not have it rosy growing up as he and his brother needed to hawk and sell stuff in the street, he said “We sold many different things – watches, handbags, sunglasses, key rings, CDs, DVDs. Whatever we could put our hands on,” he told BBC.
He continued “I was amazing at it. My brothers will tell you. Selling stuff and hustling – I was definitely one of the best, because I loved doing it and I loved spending time with my mum.”
This was his daily routine until he was spotted by Spiros Velliniatis, a basketball talent scout and coach and his life and that of his family changed for the better. Spiros had identified the untapped potential in Athens’ migrant communities. As he wandered through Sepolia one day he spotted a 12-year-old Giannis and his brothers.
Spiros told BBC “In Sepolia there are two courts next to each other. On the other, they were playing basketball, but Giannis and his brothers were just chasing each other.
“It’s not only that I saw a person with supreme perception and change of direction, there was also a passion for victory. If you have your eyes open you can see talent in a person without a soccer ball at their feet or a basketball in their hands.”
Breakthrough
Filathiltikos in the third tier of Greek basketball and desperate for young talent, regardless of background – offered to find steady work for his parents if Giannis and Thanasis committed to regular training sessions.
And the brothers were committed. Some nights they would sleep on foam mats at the gym, too exhausted to get back to the Sepolia flat they were rapidly outgrowing according to BBC.
On April 28, 2013, Antetokounmpo officially made himself eligible for the 2013 NBA draft. 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, he grew from strength to strength, and as we all know he was named the 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Coming to Nigeria
Giannis has always been outspoken of his desire to visit the country of his parents, he told The Undefeated that he understands little Ibo, the language of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria where his mother comes from. “I can understand it a little bit. I can count. It’s not like I’m fluent,” Antetokounmpo said of Ibo.
“It’s not like I can go back home to Nigeria and they can understand what I am saying. It’s kind of funny.
“I want to see where my family comes from, where my mom was raised, see my family, see where my dad was raised. That is very important. I hope my kids can do the same thing for me,” Antetokounmpo said. “Obviously, I am going to have kids that are going to grow up in the U.S., but one day I hope they can go back [to Greece] and visit and see where I grew up, the playground I was playing.”
Dual citizenship?
Antetokounmpo said he also got his Nigerian passport in 2015.When asked why he acquired a Nigerian passport, he answered: “It’s important. It’s part of who I am. Both of my parents are Nigerian. They wanted me to get it. I wanted to have it, so I got it.”
“The Greek Freak” said during the recent NBA All-Star weekend that he loves his nickname and it’s “a part of who I am right now.” But he also said that he is much more than just “The Greek Freak” by strongly stating he is also a proud African.
“There are a lot of people that I see and I tell them that I am African. I am not just ‘The Greek Freak”,Antetokounmpo said.
“It doesn’t matter what people may believe because of my nickname. There were a lot of times when I was in Greece where people said, ‘You’re not Greek. You’re Nigerian because you’re black.’ But then there have been a lot of times where it’s been the opposite, where people say, ‘You’re not African. You’re Greek. You’re ‘The Greek Freak, But I don’t really care about that. Deep down, I know who I am and where I am from. That’s all that matters to me.”
