Giannis Antetokounmpo Wants To Take Teammates To Greece If Bucks Win NBA Title

Antetokoumpo, who was born to Nigerian parents but grew up in Greece, had outlined plans back in February with regards to a homecoming trip with his brothers and mother in the offseason. Of course, he couldn’t have predicted things would have changed so drastically on a worldwide scale, with the NBA now in danger of calling the campaign off altogether after suspending play on March 11.

There is hope the league could finish the season in a “bubble,” however, and Commissioner Adam Silver is thought to be considering every possibility. MGM and Disney are both being mulled over as everything points to the campaign getting restarted with all teams in an isolated location where games will be played without fans.

Should the season start up again, the Bucks will be favorites for the title as they were leading all teams with 53 wins prior to games being suspended. As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Giannis was already looking to vacation with his teammates in Greece if they won the title, likely in addition to his trip to Nigeria.

"Before all this happened with COVID-19, I was talking about taking the team on a trip to Greece in Mykonos," the towering center was quoted as saying at the Athletes Doing Good Radiothon on Thursday.

"Mykonos is one of the best islands in Greece, it's a party island. You cannot go there with your significant other, you got to be by yourself. It's got to be a boys' trip. Obviously, we have Santorini, Santorini's really romantic. It has the best sunset and sunrise in the world. You can take your significant other there."

"I had the opportunity to go last year - I went with (Eric) Bledsoe and Brook (Lopez) to Mykonos - and I was kind of sad I wasn't able to bring the whole team to experience what we went through. So definitely, I think, after we win the championship and we're holding the trophy and we're all smoking a cigar like MJ, we can all do that in Mykonos."

Giannis has been synonymous with Greece ever since he became a notable player in the NBA but his Nigerian roots are hardly spoken of - so much so, he's called the “Greek Freak,” a nickname of which the origins are unknown.

“First of all, the nickname is really good. I like it," he also said on Thursday. “I don't remember the first time I heard about it - it was probably my rookie year - but I really don't know who came up with it. I just went on the court one day and I had like a crazy dunk or a crazy block and after that everyone started calling me the Greek Freak. So it stuck by me, I love it and it's a cool nickname.”

When he revealed plans to head to Nigeria with his family in February, the 25-year-old expressed disappointment at folks arguing over his ethnicity, declaring he’s both Greek and Nigerian.

“My parents are Nigerian. When I go back home, it’s Nigerian. Nigeria is in my blood,” he said.

(Giannis Antetokounmpo Wants To Take Teammates To Greece If Bucks Win NBA Title)

Antetokounmpo was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player last year after posting 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game during the 2018/19 season. He’s on track for a repeat this term, having averaged 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per contest. But the player is focused on winning his first NBA Championship as he’s keen on expanding his legacy.

The four-time All-Star took the non-traditional route into the league but one that is pretty normal for players coming from Europe. He didn’t attend high school or college in the United States as all American NBA players do and has been playing professionally since 2011, starting off in Greece’s third basketball decision before signing with Spanish outfit CAI Zaragoza.

Of course, there are several avenues for continued learning even while playing professional basketball and it will be interesting to see where his ambitions take him when he calls curtains on his career. On that note, fans can take advantage of these discounted Udemy coupons from My Daily coupons.

Before looking that far ahead, though, what becomes of what’s left of the NBA season remains to be seen. German football’s behind-closed-doors restart is certainly encouraging, but it by no means suggests that all sports leagues will be able to follow suit.

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