How often does a player come along that has the potential to stamp not only his name, but an entire culture on the world’s best basketball league? Until this year, twenty-three players of Greek heritage had been drafted into the NBA. But it’s the 24th such player drafted, Giannis Antetokounmpo, that may have the most impact.
In the space of a few hours, Greece’s basketball prospects on the biggest stage of all, the NBA, went from having a sole representative in Kosta Koufos, to proudly claiming one of this year’s most talented – and intriguing – draft picks.
18-year-old, 6’9″ Giannis Antetokounmpo, dubbed the ‘Greek Freak’ and selected 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks, poses one of the draft’s great mysteries. For all the high-upside, his game still needs a lot of seasoning. Antetokounmpo, however, scoffs at the notion he may have to be ‘stashed’ in Europe before trying to make his mark in the NBA.
“I think for sure I will stay in the NBA, [with] the Milwaukee Bucks,” asserts Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo is the son of Nigerian parents who emigrated to Greece and he was born in Athens. He played last season for Filathlitikos in Greece’s second division and averaged 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 26 games – not eye-opening numbers by any means.
But, the Greek insists that, despite not having played against top-flight club competition, his time in Greece’s 2nd Division has honed his game.
“Yes, indeed it did help,” he says. “The fact that I was playing in the 2nd Division [does not matter], it’s not the same level as the NBA, but it has helped me to get there. I’ve always considered myself more of an ‘American-style’ player than a typical European.”
Most NBA teams were hesitant to take a chance on a kid who is yet to prove he can handle playing in a top division, but Bucks GM John Hammond says Antetokounmpo’s upside was too much for the franchise to overlook him.
“There’s no question there were safer picks,” says Hammond. “But nothing with this kind of upside, nothing close to this. That’s the key component of what we have here.
“How are we going to get our next All-Star? I don’t want to put that on this kid’s shoulders, but I think he has the skill set to become that, if it all falls together for him.”
Milwaukee have already stated that they will buy out the remainder of Antetokounmpo’s contract from his club in Spain, Basket Zaragoza, a four-year deal that was signed in December 2012.
Before NBA training camps open in August, Antetokounmpo will instead focus on the upcoming U-20 Eurobasket in Estonia where he will represent Greece.
Upon his arrival back in Athens after the draft, he told Greek reporters that he was “looking forward to getting on the court alongside my teammates and representing Greece”.
Already Antetokounmpo is being compared to Oklahoma City’s superstar Kevin Durant due to both players’ size, long arms, big hands, and of course, their versatility on the court.
Lofty praise indeed, and while he’s clearly a raw talent, Antetokounmpo says he’s prepared to work hard on any deficiencies in his game.
“It’s a dream come true [being drafted],” says Antetokounmpo. “But this is not the end. It’s only the beginning to a very long road that, maybe someday, will give me the opportunity to make my team successful.
“I know I’m not ready, [but] I have a lot of work ahead of me. I’m not afraid. I will give everything on the court, in the gym, and I will prove to the Milwaukee Bucks that they made the right choice.”
With new found fame comes great responsibility to the social group he now represents – a group who often struggle with being stigmatized by a small – but loud – minority.
Members of Athens’ vibrant African community have told Neos Kosmos that basketball player Antetokounmpo’s ascent to NBA selection highlights that Greeks of African descent can help lift the country to new heights.
“It’s amazing news for Gianni and his family, and of course for Greece, it sends a message to all the racists out there that we Greek Africans are here to stay, and contribute positively to society,” says Nigerian-born Georges Tam.
In Kipseli, home to many of Athens’ African migrants, 22-year-old Sarah Pascal says Antetokounmpo became an overnight role model to many of the young, Athens-born Africans.
“There are so many kids just like him, born in Athens to African migrants. They speak Greek, have spent their whole lives here in schools and most have never been to Africa. If these kids are not Greek, then what are they? And now, these kids will know that with hard work and determination, they too can make something of themselves.”
Antetokounmpo admits that he started from humble beginnings, and reflects on how his own struggle shaped his current success.
“I think [about the] past [and] it makes me sad. We struggled a lot in the past to have a better life, and now that I got drafted in the NBA, for sure we’re going to have a better life. And I think now my mother and father at home, they will be very happy to see me drafted because for years in sadness and poverty is very difficult.
“Maybe, after the [past] four years, today is the happiest day of their life to see me drafted, to see all the hard work and effort that they gave, it all worked out, ” says Antetokounmpo.
Nikos Papaioannou, one of the country’s leading basketball journalists for NBA Greece, says that Antetokounmpo’s rise to the NBA sends a better image of a more diverse Greece to the world.
“Greece is a diverse country, and has been this way through the years,” stresses Papaioannou. “The biggest proof of that is Giannis’ story. He and his brothers are evolving as characters everyday, within the Greek society which is falling in love with the new tall-and-skinny player of the Bucks.”
Antetokounmpo’s appeal has also stretched to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who personally invited the player to his residence, where he told Antetokounmpo to ‘drive the Americans wild with your skill’, and assured him that he had done his family and the ‘whole country proud’.
On the court, Antetokounmpo has the potential to be the first Greek player to have an impact on an NBA team. Off the court, his impact on Greece’s migrant relations has already been felt.