Wrote this copy as part of Nike’s Zoom Freak 2 campaign for Complex. It didn’t quite see the light of day due to some internal stuff. Here’s the unpublished article in full…
Underdog. Not the first word associated with the guy who just signed the highest contract in NBA history. However, for most of his life, Giannis was just that - overlooked and undervalued. Jimmy Ness shares the Greek Freak’s unlikely backstory from skipping meals to signing shoe deals.
A six-foot eleven titan who dunks like Shaq with the handles of a point guard? Life is unfair. When you see the Greek gargoyle stack 52 points or bend steel in the face of a seasoned defender, it’s like witnessing the next stage of human evolution.
Joining MJ and Hakeem Olajuwon, Giannis is one of three players crowned MVP and defender of the year in a single season. At 26, he hasn’t reached his final form, yet he’s grasping the rungs of greatness. Earlier this year, the NBA titan overtook Wilt Chamberlain for the best efficiency stats in history. PER for the nerds.
Escaping poverty as an undocumented migrant to become the first Greek All-Star, Giannis overcame mythical odds. Before the fame, the Antetokounmpos were outsiders. In the early 1990s, they were just another Nigerian family in unforgiving Athens.
Giannis spent his childhood hucking counterfeit handbags to help his mother keep the lights on. The family of six lived in a two-bedroom apartment. They shared clothing, encountered racism and had limited healthcare. Sepolia, their downtrodden suburb, even defined them as displaced - its name translates to "outside the city."
Like Africans and Greeks alike; soccer is the Antetokounmpo's first love. Giannis' oldest brother pursued a career in Lagos and his father was a former striker. Basketball wasn't in their worldview. But, somehow, it came to them.
In a storybook moment, farsighted scout Spiros Velliniatis spotted a juvenile Giannis playing tag. Spiros was recruiting for club Filathlitikos. He was initially hunting for Giannis' older bro Thanasis, who already had a reputation for athleticism.
Spiros was instead struck by the sight of Giannis. The unsculpted potential of the kid with the hulking frame and oversized hands drew the attention of the former NBA hopeful. Even while playing tag, Giannis’ prowess shone as he dodged back and forth, running laps around other kids.
Greek club Tritonas spent two years trying to recruit Antetokounmpo, but he wasn't interested. When your family needs rent money, basketball is a distraction. He only signed up after Spiros found both his parents higher-paying jobs.
Number 34 didn't take up hoops until he was thirteen. At the same age that KD was playing semi-pro tournaments, Antetokounmpo couldn't dribble or do a lay-up.
Coach Takis Zivas was foundational in his development. His role can't be overstated. Takis spent every minute training Giannis and Thanasis.
In a mostly white, working-class team, the Antetokounmpos were a bizarre addition. They'd borrow clothes, rely on free meals and sleep in the gym so they didn’t get attacked by far right militants on the way home. Takis didn't care about complaints from other players and their parents. He favoured unpolished potential over who paid their bills on time.
Takis allowed Giannis to develop instinctually. The emerging titan wasn’t constrained to a big man role for the sake of an easy fit. Basketball IQ came above chasing buckets. Takis moulded Antetokounmpo in every skill-set and position – the bedrock that separates him today.
It took another two years for Giannis to take himself seriously. He quit over a dozen times. Sharing one pair of shoes with Thanasis and with pressures at home, the odds were stacked. But there was something special in Giannis’ DNA.
At 15, he finally saw the vision. Giannis trained compulsively, performing chin-ups in the tiny stadium until midnight. Kickstarted by his emerging physicality, the Greek Freak emerged. In his late teens, he competed mostly against adults.
Coach Takis, in halting English, struggles to isolate a standout performance.
"It's difficult to choose one example. One game I remember is one of his first with the men's squad. It was a game versus Aris, a team from the division one league. He was 17 years old at the time and playing like a professional player with full maturity and confidence."
Three years after entering the gym, Giannis was becoming one of the nation's most anticipated players. Although he and Thanasis were still kids, the hype-train had departed. Their names were feverishly tossed around local forums where fanatics debated which European powerhouse would nab them.
NBA Scouts flew miles to watch Giannis play in his tiny home stadium. Almost every franchise travelled to see the dark horse in a second-tier league.
"Giannis once reminded me of a conversation that we had, which I didn't remember. He was anxious about a scout, and what would happen next [in his career.] I told him that there was no reason to be anxious as there is no chance that he will not play in the NBA," says Takis.
Just days after his 18th birthday, the Greek Freak inked a deal with Spanish club Zaragoza. The contract included an NBA buy-out which the Bucks pounced on six months later. In his first season, Giannis had the most blocks of any rookie. Within five years, he went from a knobbly kneed teen to a basketball Kratos, an unheard-of transition.
Last month, he signed a five-year extension with the Bucks that will net him the largest contract in N.B.A. history. Takis took his own lesson from the experience.
"I learnt that any kid or athlete who combines his talent and gifted physical skills with hard work and the passion for winning is capable of being the MVP of the NBA," the typically stoic coach admits.
The Antetokounmpo story also spotlights the formerly anonymous Afro-Greek community. The most famous Greek isn't your typical middle-class, Orthodox Catholic any longer. He’s a one-time undocumented migrant, playing with the passion of the overlooked.
A mural of Giannis is painted across his childhood court where he was first spotted playing tag. Coach Zivas and Spiros continue to bolster the opportunities of minority talent in Sepolia.
In 700 B.C, Greek poet Hesiod wrote a saga named “Theogony.” The 1000 page epic described the birth of all ancient gods from Athena Nike to Zeus. This is Giannis’ very own Theogony. From social exile to basketball icon, his backstory is as unlikely as it gets.