ANTETOKOUNMPO'S TRIUMPH INSPIRES YOUNG AFRICANS
Bucks superstar’s rags-to-riches tale proves anyone can make their dreams come true
Giannis Antetokounmpo first encountered the Larry O'brien Trophy the first time he visited Africa in 2015. Antetokounmpo was in Johannesburg, South Africa, playing in the first NBA exhibition game on the continent when he spotted the golden ball and net, in all of its shining glory, resting on a lectern.
Still a gangly 20-year-old novelty with the cheek-pinching charm to fawn over a good berry smoothie, Antetokounmpo politely asked an NBA staffer if he was allowed to touch it. Told that he could, Antetokounmpo picked it up, embraced it and had the same staffer snap a cellphone photograph and text it to him.
Within six years, not only would Antetokounmpo claim possession of the trophy, but he would also acquire the accompanying Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their first championship in 50 years.
“Just believe, man,” Antetokounmpo said after Tuesday's win. “I hope I give people around the world, from Africa, from Europe, hope that it can be done. It can be done.”
The victory made Antetokounmpo the fourth foreign-born Finals MVP and the third Finals MVP with at least one parent from Africa, joining Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994 and 1995 and Andre Iguodala — whose father is Nigerian — in 2015. And it resonated in Milwaukee, where more than 80,000 fans engaged in revelry inside and around the Fiserv Forum. It also reverberated back home in his native Greece, in Nigeria, where his parents are from, and throughout a continent that will always claim one of its distant sons.
Olajuwon is considered the greatest international player in NBA history. Dikembe Mutombo, a fellow hall of fame big man, calls him the “king of Africa” because he was the pioneering figure who won two championships, an MVP, and was so good, the Houston Rockets don't catch any grief for selecting him No. 1 overall — two slots ahead of Michael Jordan — in 1984.
“Part of the evolution of
African interest and passion for the game goes back to Hakeem's entry into the game,” said Victor Williams, chief executive of NBA Africa. “Giannis is doing the same thing for today's generation of African kids.”
Antetokounmpo is known as “The Greek Freak” because he was born in Athens, but he grew up in a Nigerian home. His mother, Veronica, is Igbo. His late father, Charles, is from the same Yoruba tribe as Olajuwon. His last name — Adetokunbo — was Hellenized when he finally became a citizen of Greece and received his passport, one month before the Bucks drafted him 15th overall in 2013.
“I represent my country, both countries, Nigeria and Greece,” said Antetokounmpo, who received a Nigerian passport in 2015, but still longs to visit the most populated nation in Africa.
Talent and will elevated Antetokounmpo to a place where three countries view him with pride. But he was without a country for his entire childhood.
Antetokounmpo's family fought through poverty, endured overt racism, hustled by any means to survive, and lived in fear, as undocumented residents in Greece, of being sent back before they could find a better life. The rags-to-riches tale has been told many times, but now extends beyond the mind-blowing generational wealth Antetokounmpo has accrued. He's reached the pinnacle of the sport.
“There are so many elements of it that speak to the broader African story. It's about a family that was hungry for opportunity, for themselves and their kids, and at great risk, left the country to find that opportunity,” said Williams, a native of Sierra Leone. “Many Africans travel in the diaspora. We didn't have to go to the lengths that Giannis' family did, but that same drive to tap into everything that the world can give you, the opportunities that are available, to be willing to travel and displace yourself in order to get those opportunities, I think is emblematic of a lot of Africans.”
Amadou Gallo Fall spent more than a decade helping the league gain a foothold in Africa. He helped open the league's office in Johannesburg and oversaw its grassroots efforts in the continent before taking over as president of the Basketball Africa League two years ago.
“Seeing a young man like Giannis, his background and doing it on the biggest stage, it's certainly something that's special, that means a lot to a lot of people,” Fall said. “It's inspirational. And that's what we like to see, for the young people across Africa to have these types of role models that we can follow and be inspired by.”
When the Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo, they believed he had some upside, not realizing that eight years later, his potential remained limitless. Antetokounmpo is already the only player in NBA history with two regular-season MVPS, a championship, a Finals MVP and a defensive player of the year award before turning 27.
“I know I'm a role model. But this should make every person, every kid, anybody around the world believe in their dreams,” Antetokounmpo said.
“Whatever you feel when you're down, when you don't think it's going to happen for you or you might not make it in your career — might be basketball, might be anything — just believe in what you're doing and keep working. Don't let nobody tell you what you can be and what you cannot do.”
I know I'm a role model. But this should make every person, every kid, anybody around the world believe in their dreams.