Giannis Antetokounmpo: from being homeless to becoming an NBA Champion

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How did Giannis go from selling CDs on the streets of Athens to becoming one of the top players in the NBA?

TLDR

• Giannis had a harsh childhood, as he endured starvation and poverty, growing up in a small apartment with his three brothers and parents.

• Money was tight, so Giannis and his brothers helped out in any way from selling CDs, DVDs, glasses, and watches on the streets of Athens.

• While scouting Giannis’ older brother, a coach with the Greek youth basketball club, Filathlitikos, also recognized a talent in Giannis who he saw playing tag with Kostas and Alex on the court.

• Although Giannis had dreams of playing soccer professionally, he accepted the sponsorship offer and quickly learned the game despite the negative environment he was surrounded in from homelessness and extreme racism.

• Giannis worked on his craft by any means, and soon enough, he was making a name for himself and drawing attention from the NBA scouts.

Success isn’t built over one night and NBA champ Giannis Antetokounmpo knows all about that. For the Greek Freak, he had to go through the mud just to make it to the league— I’m talking starvation, poverty, and homelessness! All as just a child, too.

Giannis may be living lavishly now, but as a kid, he was raised in a small apartment in Athens, Greece with his three brothers and parents. Having a roof under their head wasn’t always a given though; at times his family would be homeless. I’m sure Giannis doesn’t mind playing on the same team and sharing the same court with his brother Thanasis, but as a kid, I imagine it was a different story when he, Thanasis, and his other brothers, Kostas and Alex, had to share the same bed!

It was clearly a tough time for the Antetokounmpo family. Giannis’ father did the best he could and although he was a pro soccer player in Nigeria, those days were over once the family migrated to Greece. Dad was all about wanting to start a better life for the family, so he worked as a handyman. Giannis and his brothers helped out in any way they could by selling CDs, DVDs, glasses, and watches on the streets of Athens.

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Little did he know, that side hustle would soon be over once he picked up a basketball. At the time, Giannis’ older brother Thanasis was the only hooper in the family. Spiros was a coach with the Greek youth basketball club, Filathlitikos, and scouted Thanasis, but also peeped Giannis playing tag with his brothers Kostas and Alex on the court. Coach Spiros said word for word, "I realized I was in the presence of one of the greatest basketball talents in the world." Spiros definitely saw the future with some sort of crazy psychic talent because at the time, Giannis never even played basketball. The coach was going off pure athleticism and potential.

Spiros practically begged Giannis to join the club, but ironically enough, Giannis didn't have any interest in hooping. He actually wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and play soccer professionally. Now, if you were Spiros, you wouldn't want to let this talent just slip away, so he did all he could to convince Giannis to play. Spiros got Giannis' parent's part-time jobs and sponsored Giannis. This was the first time in the history of the Filathlitikos that they sponsored a 13-year-old. Keep in mind, Spiros STILL never even saw Giannis dibble or make a layup.

Giannis had dreams of playing soccer but if he had the chance to play basketball just to help provide for his family, he was all in. As soon as Giannis accepted the sponsorship offer, he was already picking up the game and showing lots of potentials. This guy really started from the bottom… on and off the court.

A few years after his offer, Giannis and his family were evicted from their apartment and forced to live in a room of a homeless shelter. On top of this, the Antetokounmpo family faced extreme racism in Greece especially by Fascists and Neo-Nazis at the time. This outside noise did not take Giannis down though. He was in the gym late nights and sometimes would sleep in the gym on an exercise mat just so he didn’t have to run into a Neo-Nazi on his way home to the shelter.

Giannis was in the lab by any means, and soon enough, he was making a name for himself in the basketball community and drawing attention from the NBA scouts. A Spanish basketball club, Zaragoza, even offered Giannis to join the team for 400K euros per year. It was a no-brainer for Giannis to want to sign with the club, especially if it could help out his family’s circumstances. Before you know it, Giannis declared for the 2013 NBA draft and was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

What’s crazy is, Giannis might’ve not even made it overseas to Milwaukee after all that! Before he was drafted, Giannis' family had their visas denied twice. If they were denied a third time, his family would never get the chance to travel with Giannis to the U.S. Because family meant so much to him, Giannis was sticking by their side— if they couldn’t come to the States, he wouldn’t either. He would simply play overseas instead. Obviously, the family got everything cleared, but just imagine if not!

Things looked a lot different for Giannis years ago, but now, we’re all witnessing a player with many deserving accolades from 7 All-Stars, a championship, 2 MVPs, 1 DPOY Award, a selection into NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team… and he is not done yet. Giannis is still climbing.

• This player was showing off all the new moves 😮

• I’m pretty confused about what went down right here 😭

• We all remember the hype of this player’s high school days🔥

• This guy should be on the field, not in the stands 🏈

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