Giannis Antetokounmpo, original name Giannis Adetokunbo. The Greek Freak was born in Athens, Greece, and played for the Filathitikos youth team there before the Milwaukee Bucks picked him 15th overall. Before the draft, Giannis was a speedy guy with a lot of promise, but it wasn’t clear how much. No one could have guessed that he would be so powerful. In 2018, he won the MVP award.
He was the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 for points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. This happened in the 2016–17 season. He has always been on the All-Star team, which gives the Bucks a great chance to win a title shortly. Giannis is also a beast in fantasy basketball, and we haven’t even seen him at his best yet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Early Life and parents
On December 6, 1994, Athens, Greece, birthed Giannis Antetokounmpo. Nigerian parents immigrated to the US in 1991. His parents left their eldest kid in Francis, in the care of his grandparents before departing.
Thanasis is Giannis’s older brother, and he has two younger brothers, Kostas and Alex. Despite their birth in Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo and three of his brothers did not qualify for Greek citizenship. Even after reaching the age of eighteen, he remained a stateless person since he lacked Greek and Nigerian citizenship.
He recalls his parents working hard to make ends meet and sustain a family of eight. Most days, he and his elder brother Thanasis would attend practice on an empty stomach in a field outside the family’s impoverished neighborhood of Sepolia.
When Giannis and his brother were 13 years old, a club instructor saw them playing football, not dribbling a basketball. As children, the brothers feared police arrest and could not freely interact with neighboring kids and residents.
Spiros Velliniatis, the Sepolia club coach, saw that Giannis had the mental dedication and drove to succeed in basketball. In an interview, Antetokounmpo credited Velliniatis for his success and popularity.
Then-Filathlitikos coach of Panagiotis Zivach recalls recruiting the lads to regular basketball sessions by offering to find jobs for their parents. Giannis Tzikas, a neighboring restaurateur, made meals for the kids to rehearse on a full stomach.
After Zivas helped their parents get work, Giannis and Thanasis started playing basketball. Giannis Antetokounmpo gave the boys money to satisfy their basketball club requirements.
Later, the family moved to Filathlitikos, making it easy for Giannis to train. In 2009, Giannis Antetokounmpo joined Filathlitikos’ young squad and began his professional career after two years of practice.
Giannis Antetokounmpo NBA Career
Giannis Antetokounmpo started basketball in 2007. Giannis Antetokounmpo played for the Filathlitikos youth league in 2009. Antetokounmpo joined Filathlitikos’ semi-pro Greek B Basketball League senior men’s club in 2011. He joined the Greek A2 League in 2012-2013.
Antetokounmpo signed a four-year contract with CAI Zaragoza shortly after his 18th birthday. Antetokounmpo stayed with Filathlitkos until 2013-2014 since the deal didn’t start until then.
Antetokounmpo became NBA Draft-eligible on April 28, 2013. On October 13, 18-year-old Antetokounmpo made his NBA debut. NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Net worth
Its net worth is expected to be close to 123 million dollars in 2023. This is a significant increase compared to a few years earlier when his net worth was far smaller. Since that time, he has successfully closed several lucrative deals.
Giannis’ salary in the NBA is one of the primary factors contributing to his net worth growth. As a result of the contract extension he received from the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, he became one of the players with the highest salaries in the league.
His new deal was for five years and $228 million. He also has significant marketing partnerships, such as a partnership with Nike to produce his brand of footwear and an agreement with Ready Nutrition to make his line of energy drinks.
Giannis has not only been successful in making money from basketball and advertising, but he has also invested in various companies. He has worked for multiple businesses and even established his venture capital company, focusing on investing in emerging technology businesses.
Giannis’s net worth will surely rise since he’s still a great basketball player and a successful businessman. His dedication to improving his game and expanding his business will keep him among the world’s most successful athletes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Biography in Brief
| Name: | Giannis Antetokounmpo |
| Nick Name: | Greek Freak |
| Age: | 28 |
| Born: | December 6, 1994 |
| Gender: | Male |
| Height: | 6′ 11″ft |
| Weight: | 243 lbs |
| Country of Origin: | Athens, Greece |
| Net Worth/Salary | £70million |
| Wife/Girlfriend | Mariah Riddlesprigger |
| Relationship Status |
married |
| Kids- 2 |
2 |
| Father | Charles Antetokounmpo |
| Mother | Veronica Antetokounmpo |
| Siblings (Younger Bro.) |
Thanasis, Francis, Kostas, Alex |
| Social Media |
Twitter – Instagram – Facebook |
Giannis Antetokounmpo personal life
Antetokounmpo’s biggest admirers are his two boys and his long-term partner Mariah Riddlesprigger. Basketball supporters call him the “Greek Freak.” As he and Riddlesprigger are expecting, he’ll soon have another supporter.
Even while not much is known about the couple’s early days together, the NBA champion and the fashion entrepreneur now have a family of four after the birth of their boys, Liam Charles and Maverick Shai, in the years 2020 and 2021, respectively.
They are not bashful about showing affection for one another on social media platforms like Instagram, where they frequently publish heartfelt messages to one another and give followers a peek into their home life.
Mariah Riddlesprigger, the founder of a clothing brand
In May 2021, Riddlesprigger introduced her clothing brand under her label. Sincerely, Mariah is a loungewear line with items inspired “by all the remarkable people” she has encountered throughout her career. Riddlesprigger mentioned in an interview with the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune that she began working on the brand when Giannis Antetokounmpo was still in the NBA draft bubble.
Riddlesprigger published a series of postings on Instagram to celebrate the achievement, one of which was a heartfelt tribute to Antetokounmpo. In the post, Riddlesprigger gave Antetokounmpo credit for inspiring and encouraging her throughout the process.
She said in the caption: “His words struck an emotional chord with me, and they’re the reason I didn’t give up when I was tired, bored, or wrapped around in a knot in motherhood and my issues,” “Whenever I felt like giving up, I would picture his thick, wonderful accent urging me to be the most excellent possible version of myself. Giannis, thank you for having faith in me, inspiring me, and just being you!
She and Antetokounmpo enjoy family time.
The pair makes time for their children and other family members, even though Antetokounmpo’s basketball schedule is quite frantic and Riddlesprigger’s company is highly demanding.
They’ve posted several adorable family moments throughout the years on social media, including a picture of the whole family dressed up for Halloween in 2021. Antetokounmpo appeared in a photo shared on Riddlesprigger’s Instagram account dressed as the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. Riddlesprigger dressed up as Dorothy, while the couple’s two boys portrayed the Scarecrow and the Lion, respectively.
In May 2022, the family attended a game with the Milwaukee Bucks and shared another compatibility moment there. At one of Antetokounmpo’s games, Riddlesprigger and her two boys supported him by wearing tailored jackets with the player’s name and jersey number printed on the back.
Riddlesprigger posted a photo showing the entire family with their backs turned to the camera, writing, “We got you, always.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo Inspiration
Kobe Bryant, a player that frequently comes up in conversation when discussing Giannis. Kobe wanted Giannis to go on and win a championship once he had accomplished what Bryant had publicly challenged him to achieve, which he did in 2021.
Bryant had famously challenged Giannis to strive to become MVP at some point. Kobe Bryant has a major admirer in Giannis, who wore a Kobe t-shirt to a news conference for the NBA Abu Dhabi Games. Bryant was a significant source of motivation for Giannis. He also discussed how Kobe’s journey served as an inspiration to him.
It would have been amazing if Kobe could have witnessed all of this for himself since he was an inspiration to so many of the players currently playing in the league. His career in the NBA and all he did off the court when he retired were an incredible source of motivation and inspiration.
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO FUN FACTS
- Never held citizenship to Greece or Nigeria until 2013, despite having parents who were immigrants from Nigeria to Greece.
- Donated one hundred thousand dollars to the employees of the Fiserv Forum due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo did not begin playing basketball until he was 11 years old, making him one of the youngest players in the history of the NBA to make his debut.
- Additionally, Brother Kostas plays in the NBA.
- In 2016, Antetokounmpo and his brother Thanasis each completed a condensed period of military duty lasting three months.
- President Joe Biden congratulated Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on their 2021 NBA Championship win in Washington, DC.
