The four Antetokounmpo brothers, from left to right, are Alex, Thanasis, Giannis, and Kostas. [+]
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It was a deeply felt return home. A few days after taking home the 2019 NBA MVP trophy, Milwaukee Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo, 24, moved back to his hometown of Athens. Antetokounmpo’s first signature shoe, the Nike Zoom Freak 1, is named after the Greek Freak, a nickname he gained for his strong 6′ 11″ physique, speed, and ball-handling skills.
Although the launching of a signature sneaker by an NBA MVP may not seem like a noteworthy accomplishment, Antetokounmpo’s story is. In search of a better life, his parents, Charles and Veronica, moved their family from Lagos, Nigeria to Athens. Giannis was born in 1994 into a family of five brothers: 17-year-old Alexis, professional basketball player Thanasis, who is believed to join with the Bucks, and Kostas, who was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018 NBA Draft. As their parents left for Greece, Francis remained in Nigeria. The Antetokounmpos family lived in one room in Athens, and the boys helped their parents sell trinkets on the streets to support the close-knit family. Giannis began playing basketball just a year and a half ago, modeling himself after his elder brother Thanasis. Thanasis and Giannis had a loving and encouraging family, but their passion and determination on the basketball court never wavered, even as teenagers living in great poverty and sharing a single pair of basketball shoes. It was actually enjoyable, according to Thanasis.
“Let’s say Giannis is playing that he has to sub out, I have to switch shoes, I got to come in and play,” said Thanasis. “And then you beat the other team. And the other team is looking at you crazy because you just beat them.”
The Antetokounmpo family.
COURTESY NIKE
From his humble beginnings in the gritty Sepolia district of Athens to being chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 19th round of the draft, the guard and forward for the team has gone a long way. For the unveiling, Nike selected the multipurpose Zappeion Exhibition Hall, which has a history of athleticism—it was built for the first Olympic Games and has hosted several Olympic events throughout the years—with an ionic colonnade around a circular courtyard. On June 28, Giannis presented the Zoom Freak 1, a sneaker that depicts his Greek ancestry and family. There are flowers, which are his father’s favorite flower, along with his initials, GA, which have been turned into a Greek-inspired logo, and his Milwaukee Bucks number, 34.
“I try to represent my family wherever I go, to the best of my ability,” Giannis, who is modest even in the face of NBA fame, said in a soft-spoken manner. “As you can see, I have the names of my parents up front and my four brothers down back. “I am my father’s legacy,” is written on the Greek flag, which stands in for my nation. The three and the four are visible. My father died two years ago.I wanted to give my dad some thanks. The sign side and the roses at the bottom are visible, and they provide comfort.
Giannis collaborated with Nike designer Ross Klein to develop the shoe’s concept, and Klein went on to elaborate. According to Klein, “his mother is located here from the wing of support.” “The traction and our computational work, along with the poignant and artistic tale of roses, lead us to the location of his father.” The brotherhood follows, which serves as their anchor and constant reminder of who they are.
When discussing the inspiration behind the electrifying orange All Bros Zoom Freak 1, Thanasis remarked, “Black, Asian, this anything, we’re all brothers, and we wanted people to feel like this when they wear the shoe when somebody gets the shoe.”
The breakdown doodle of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Nike Zoom Freak 1.
COURTESY NIKE
Giannis’s story includes his community as well as his family. It truly did take a village to raise the plump little Greek-Nigerian into one of the biggest stars in the NBA. Giannis played his first basketball games at Filathlitikos, where Takis Zivas was the head coach. Another coach who came across Giannis playing tag on the streets with his two younger siblings was Spiros Velliniatis. Despite Giannis’s limited dribbling skills and repeated attempts to quit up basketball, Zivas had faith in his abilities. The general manager of the club would help Giannis’s parents get jobs if he joined. Giannis Tsiggas, the namesake and owner of Mr. Giannis, fed the malnourished youngster and his brothers for free before and after practice, despite criticism for feeding black children. Giannis begged Tsigas to work to help support his family so that he could improve in his sport, but Tsigas refused. Mr. Giannis currently has Giannis’s 2018 NBA All-Star jersey hanging on his wall.
These days, Giannis is the one giving back to his neighborhood. He is donating money to build an indoor basketball court in a neighborhood outside of Athens that was severely damaged by fire. He also paid for the installation of an air conditioner in Filathlitikos. He founded the Atetokounmbros foundation with his brothers, which provides help to the community. On the weekend of his homecoming, they sponsored a kid’s three-on-three outdoor competition with Nike, and Giannis and his siblings graciously coached the winning teams on the same outdoor courts where he had played as a kid. “You have to always give back to your community, and this is where I started, so it’s really important,” he said.
Since Greece does not have birthright legislation, Giannis had no official country and feared being deported until he was eighteen years old, at which point he was eventually granted citizenship. However, this did not make the basketball player any less proud of his home country of Greece. When asked if he had ever questioned his Greek heritage, he responded without hesitation, saying, “No.” He would spend the night at the basketball gym in his anti-racism campaign to defend himself against extreme right-wing racists who preyed on African immigrants. “Even though I didn’t get my citizenship until I was 18, I always feel like I’m Nigerian and Greek,” the athlete exclaimed. He intends to visit the nation of origin of his parents to see where they lived during their impoverished upbringing. “I acknowledge that my circumstances were challenging, but my mother’s was likely ten or twenty times more dire than mine.”
Giannis’s achievement acts as proof against the racism and nationalism that the world is currently experiencing. This tale demonstrates the extent of what may be accomplished when someone is shown love by their family and the community. Giannis is well aware of the requirements for success; he went from wearing Thanasis’ shoes to earning $9 million annually from his Nike contract. He credits his perseverance, willpower, and ability to stay focused on his objectives for his success.
“You’re not good at that, so there will be times when something hits you and you fall down, like someone has died, but at the end of the day, you have to just fight right back, get up, and never give up,” Giannis stated.