Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo (; born December 6, 1994) is a Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. He is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. His combination of size, speed and ball-handling skills earned him the nickname “Greek Freak”; he is one of the youngest players ever to play in the NBA.
About Giannis Antetokounmpo in brief
Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo (; born December 6, 1994) is a Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. He is a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. In 2016–17 he led the Bucks in all five major statistical categories and became the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 in total points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He received the Most Improved Player award in 2017. He has received four All-Star selections, including being selected as an All-Stars captain in 2019 and 2020. He was born in Athens, Greece, to Nigerian parents who moved from Lagos, Nigeria, three years earlier. He gained Greek citizenship in 2013, and his family Hellenized their surname from Adetokunbo to AntetkounMPo to more closely follow Greek spelling rules. He played basketball for the youth teams of Filathlitikos in Athens before entering the 2013 NBA draft, where he was selected 15th overall by the Bucks. His combination of size, speed and ball-handling skills earned him the nickname “Greek Freak”; he is one of the youngest players ever to play in the NBA. He made his NBA debut on October 13, 2013, at the age of 18 years and 311 days. He scored in double figures 23 times and grabbed at least 10 rebounds twice, with both efforts resulting in double-doubles.
In December 2012, a few days after turning 18, he signed a four-year deal with Spanish club CAI Zaragoza, reportedly including NBA buyouts after each season. A number of other major European clubs had been interested in adding him, including Barcelona and Efes. In the 2012–13 season he played in the Greek A2 League, Greece’s second division. He shot 46. 4% from the field, 31. 3% from three-point range, and 72. 0% from free throw line, while averaging 22. 5 minutes per game. Over 26 games, he averaged 9. 5 points, 5. 0 rebounds, 1. 4 assists, and 1. 0 blocks per game in the 2013 Greek League All-star Game. In 2011 he played with the senior men’s team of Filthlitiko in the semi-pro Greek B Basket League during the 2011–12 season. His parents, as immigrants, could not easily find work, so he and his older brother, Thanasis, helped by hawking watches, handbags and sunglasses in the streets. For the first 18 years of his life, he was effectively stateless, having no papers from Nigeria or Greece. He and three of his four brothers were born in Greece, but they did not automatically receive full Greek citizenship as the Greek nationality law abides by the jus sanguinis. In 2013, he fulfilled his draft projections as a first-round pick by being selected 15st overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.
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This page is based on the article Giannis Antetokounmpo published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
