Milwaukee’s heralded rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to star in the NBA season in the US for the first time this week.
Antetokounmpo, the Greek Nigerian prodigy, plied his trade at Filathlitikos in Greece’s second-tier league but will now debut in the number 34 jersey for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 18-year-old has surprised many with his play during the pre-season, so far securing seven points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The question is whether he’ll continue to impress once the challenges of the regular season begin. The transition hasn’t been completely smooth, but for Antetokounmpo,
persistence is key.
“The NBA is the hardest league in the world, so it’s very hard for me,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“The court is bigger than the European court, even the three-point line is further away, so it’s very hard for me to adjust, but I know that day-by-day I’ll be better.”
So far though, the signs are promising. Antetokounmpo says he feels no pressure to live up to any external expectations.
“Pressure for what? Nothing can put pressure on me. Not the people or what the media say,” he asserts.
“I don’t care. The only thing I care [about] is what my coach says, and my team.”
It’s been quite a dream run for the young star, jumping a few steps to get into the biggest and most prestigious basketball league. Coming from the second division in Greece, where the competition is nowhere near the level of the NBA, Antetokounmpo is taking everything in his stride.
He is still considered to be raw talent, but he has total support from the Bucks’ front office to develop at his pace, and expectations of carrying the team on a nightly basis are absent. The young squad the Bucks have assembled could surprise a few teams in the Eastern Conference and possibly sneak into one of the lower playoff seeds at season’s end.
The young Greek hopes the individual goals he has set for himself will be impetus enough to help the team achieve its targets this season.
“First the team because it’s always about the team, hopefully we can win as many games as we can. For me [it’s] winning Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Month, Rookie of the Week. They’re my goals so every day I’ll keep training to try to reach them.”
Antetokounmpo is the only Greek-born player of the three Greeks in the league, his hope is that his arrival on American shores will open the door for more of his countrymen to make the journey over to the world’s best league.
“For sure I would like to see more Greeks [in the NBA],” says Antetokounmpo. “It would be nice to have more Greeks in the League. Now I’m in the US, I talk with the American guys, I talk with the international guys, so it would be nice to see some Greek guys and hang around and have some fun with the Greek guys.”
One thing is certain, when the ball is tossed on October 30 against the New York Knicks, Antetokounmpo will be ready, and the NBA will officially be on notice.
Memphis’ duo Kosta Koufos and Nick Calathes will also be on the bench for the Grizzlies this season.
*Nick Metallinos is the only Australian covering the NBA and is the content director for the website www.starting5online.com