The Milwaukee Bucks selected Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013, and during the following 10 years, he has become one of the most dominant players in the NBA. Giannis has made incredible progress in the league and currently holds a number of prestigious titles, including champion, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Finals MVP, and many others.
With Giannis being one of the best international players in the game, he can single-handedly change the fortunes of the national team he chooses to represent. Giannis, a Greek national with Nigerian ancestry, had the option to choose between the two countries, but he has spent his entire life representing Greece.
Giannis, along with 3 of his brother (Alex, Thanasis, and Kostas) will represent Greece in EuroBasket 2022, irking the Nigerian national team, who shared an image on Twitter to air their disappointment at the 4 Antetokounmpo brothers in their Greek uniforms.
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The Milwaukee Bucks selected Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013, and during the following 10 years, he has become one of the most dominant players in the NBA. Giannis has made incredible progress in the league and currently holds a number of prestigious titles, including champion, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Finals MVP, and many others.
Being one of the best international players in the game, Giannis has the power to make or break the national team he chooses to play for. Giannis, a Greek national with Nigerian ancestry, had the option to choose between the two countries, but he has spent his entire life representing Greece.
Along with three of his brothers, Giannis Up until this point in his junior career, Giannis and his brothers have represented Greece, and they will do so going forward. This is a hotly debated subject because many people feel Giannis ought to be honoring his native Nigeria and making Nigerians proud. Even a video of Nigeria defeating Greece in 2012 Olympic qualifying matches was posted by the national team.
Giannis' devotion to Greece is understandable given that he developed as a basketball player there. He not only grew up there, but he also advanced via the local basketball circuit before NBA scouts saw him. In May 2013, the Greek government sped up the process of converting him from a stateless person to a citizen of that country because it was feared he wouldn't be able to travel to the US for NBA Draft formalities.
He still talks strongly about his Nigerian ancestry despite his allegiance to Greece. Giannis explored his Nigerian origins in an in-depth feature with Andscape in 2019 (then known as Undefeated) and explained how he is more than simply "The Greek Freak" and has deeper roots that connect him to Nigeria.
I was raised in a Nigerian family, Antetokounmpo claimed. Naturally, I was born in Greece and attended school there. But when I get home at the end of the day, there is no Greek culture. It is purely Nigerian culture. It's about having values, being disciplined, and showing respect for your elders.
"I inform the numerous persons I come across that I am African. The Greek Freak is not all that I am, Antetokounmpo claimed.
What people might think about me because of my nickname is irrelevant. People frequently remarked that I wasn't Greek while I was in Greece. Because you're black, you're from Nigeria. But there have also been other instances where it has been the complete reverse, But I don’t really care about that. Deep down, I know who I am and where I am from. That’s all that matters to me.”
I was raised in a Nigerian family, Antetokounmpo claimed. Giannis Giannis might have represented the D'Tigers internationally and been a member of a more competitive international basketball team in the modern period because he also holds a Nigerian passport. Greece hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 2008, while Nigeria has since 2012.
The Greek national team, led by Giannis and his brothers, has been on the verge of making it to the Olympics, but Croatia destroyed those hopes in 2016. Giannis was a member of the Greek national team in 2019, which finished 11th at the FIBA World Cup.
