So far we have talked about the stars that have been playing for a decade or ones that have already retired, but for this blog let’s switch gears and talk about a rising star who is still young in his career and is on a path to be an NBA superstar. Here we are talking about Giannis Adetokunbo, also known as Greek Freak.
Giannis Adetokunbo was born in Athens, Greece on the 6th December 1994, to Nigerian immigrants who had illegal status in the country. As a young child Adetokunbo was always scared that he and his family would get deported anytime. This fear drove him to find ways to look for money which at first he did by selling sunglasses and watches on the street. By the age of 13, Adetokunbo and his 3 other brothers’ talent in basketball was noticed by a local coach. In 3 years he went from there to playing for a professional basketball team in Greece. With his huge body of 6ft 11in, at the age of 19 his talent and athleticism got noticed by NBA scouts and he got drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks. After his drastic success in his career, Greece’s government finally decided to give Adetokunbo his citizenship, which he should have gotten at birth. Adetokunbo changed his last name to Antetokounmpo after traveling to the U.S.
He had a tough time in his first few years, but he got The Most Improved Player award in 2016-17. The Bucks overall though had a really poor performance and even had to switch coaches in the 2017-18 season. After the coach switch, though the team itself didn’t win any awards, Antetokounmpo sure did. In 2018-19 he had the best record in the league and was given the NBA’s MVP title in the 2018-19. He won this title again in the 2019-20 season and also the title of the Defensive Player of The Year.
In the 2020-21 season, the Bucks had great matches in the Eastern Conference. This is where the highlight so far of the rising star Antetokounmpo comes in. In this season, Antetokounmpo put out a performance in finals that has never been seen before. Even though his team lost, Antetokounmpo won the audience’s hearts with his game.
Many basketball fans are excited to see how this young star continues his journey in the NBA and what accomplishments he gets. It is for sure that there is a lot of potential in him as he was able to fight through the struggles of his childhood to get into the spotlight of the NBA.
I did not know that Greece gave Giannis his citizenship until he went to the NBA. Really good blog, with an extremely good player. You only failed to mention that he won the NBA finals in 2021 against the Phoenix Suns.