Giannis Antetokounmpo Biography

Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece, on December 6, 1994. Nicknamed the Greek Freak, Giannis is a Greek Basketball player who plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league for Easterners the Milwaukee Bucks. He was born to his parents, Charles Antetokounmpo and Veronica Antetokounmpo.

Giannis is a third born in a family of five, his other four brothers are, Thenasis Antetokounmpo, Alexis Antetokounmpo, Francis Antetokounmpo, and Kostas Antetokounmpo. His elder brother Thenasis also plays Basketball in the NBA and plays for the same team as Giannis, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Giannis started his professional career by signing up to play for the junior squad of the Filathlitikos B.C., a Greek professional basketball club, later on, he became a member of Filathlitikos senior squad.

Giannis excelled in the Greek basketball league and this attracted interest from big basketball teams in Europe. CAI Zaragoza’, a Spanish club, contracted him for 4 years at € 4, 00,000 per year. However, Antetokounmpo did not get the opportunity to play for Zaragoza as he was picked up by Milwaukee Bucks as a preliminary draft just when he would have taken the field for the Spanish squad. His contract with Zarazoga incorporated a default escape condition and that meant he qualified to sign and play for Milwaukee Bucks.

His parents are from Nigeria and they emigrated from Lagos Nigeria to Athens Greece in 1991 before Giannis was born. They entrusted their elder son, Francis to his grandparents. Despite being born in Greece, Giannis and his three brothers did not qualify for Greek citizenship, in fact, at 18, Giannis was stateless because he neither had Greek or Nigerian Citizenship.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

Giannis represented the Filathlitikos youth team for three years between the years 2009 and 2012 excelling in every match he played in. in one match, Giannis scored a record 50 points which attracted various Basketball clubs in Europe.

Giannis then became a member of Filathlitikos senior squad in 2012 and played for the club in the Greek Basketball League for the 2012/2013 season. However, he did not finish the season as in December 2012, CAI Zarazoga a Spanish Basketball club signed him in a 4-year contract.

His contract with Zarazoga was to officially start in the 2013/2014 season. In the 2012/13 season in the Greek league, Giannis managed an average of 9.5 points in at least 26 games, this made him qualify for the Greek League All-Star Game.

In April 2013, Giannis qualified for the NBA draft of the 2013/14 season and was selected in the first round of the draft and was ranked 15^th overall among all the drafts for Milwaukee Bucks. On July 13, 2013, Giannis was signed as a new player for Milwaukee Bucks.

In his debut season for the Bucks, Giannis played a total of 77 matches for the Bucks. He was ranked NBA top Rookie for the season finishing the season with 61 blocks.

His impressive performance that season earned him a position in the second team of the NBA All-Rookie team. Milwaukee Bucks extended his contract for two more years.

On February 22, 2016, Giannis hit double figures for the first time in his career he managed to get double figures, scoring 10 assists, 12 rebounds, and 27 points in a match against Los Angeles Lakers in which Milwaukee Bucks won 108-101. At 21, Giannis became the youngest Bucks player to score a triple-double.

PHOTO: Courtesy

On13 March 2016, he set another record by becoming the first player in Milwaukee Bucks history to earn four triple-doubles in one season with the fourth triple-double coming in the game against Brooklyn Nets.

In September 2016, Giannis penned a new 4-year contract with Milwaukee Bucks worth $100 million. In the opening game against Charlotte Hornets on October 26 which Bucks lost, he scored 31 points, a career achievement for him.

This year, Giannis has led Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA finals, the first finals the club is playing since 1971.

GREEK NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM

Giannis first played for the Greek national basketball team in the under-20 team when he was selected to represent the Greek Under-20 basketball team in July 2013.

In 2014, Giannis was named to the senior Greek basketball team and was part of the team that played in the 2014 FIBA Basketball world cup.

Giannis also represented the Greek basketball team in Euro Basket in 2015.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS

In February 2017, Giannis made history by becoming the only other player in the history of Milwaukee Bucks to be selected as an All-star squad member after Michael Redd.

Giannis was selected to start the 2017 NBA All-Star game becoming the youngest Bucks player to start an All-Star game at the age of 22.

Giannis is also the first and only Greek NBA All-star player.

In 2017, he was honored with NBA Most Improved player award.

GIANNIS NETWORTH

‘The Greek Freak’ is one of the most paid NBA players and according to Forbes, the 26-year-old has a net worth of $70 million.

Giannis is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world
PHOTO: Courtesy

In the Forbes list of the World’s highest-paid athletes, Giannis is ranked 19^th.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Giannis is verified on all of his social media handles.

Twitter: Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34)

Facebook: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Instagram: Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_an34)