But this story would’ve gone differently if the future NBA star didn’t listen to his brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo. The17-year-old is currently in the process of deciding on what collegehe will attend and play basketball for.Francisdid play some basketball in Greece, but his basketball career nevertook off in the same way that his brothers’ did. Das Ehepaar Antetokounmpo war Anfang der 1990er Jahre aus Nigeria nach Griechenland immigriert, während ihr bis dahin einzig geborener Sohn Francis bei den Großeltern in Lagos verblieben war. The team won the Greek Basket League title both years he played, and Thanasis earned the league’s MSP (Most Spectacular Player) two times in a row.The Antetokounmpo family’s first love was soccer. Instead, he foundsuccess as a soccer player, playing midfielder for a professionalclub in Greece’s second-tier league. Fortunately, Antetokounmpo’s younger brother, Kostas, was playing the role of internet watchdog. It didn't go exactly as planned – in their perfect world the Bucks would have won – but them playing together was something that as teenagers they'd hadn't exactly planned in the first place.But as he went to the bench for the first time, he did so with the crowd celebrating his contributions and the Bucks up, 16-4.With about 8½ minutes on the clock, Giannis drove toward the rim before turning and dropping a bounce pass – a bad one, he admits – back to Thanasis who he knew would be cutting behind him through the lane. The hacker posted crude and even racist messages after gaining control of Giannis’ account. Even Lopez was thrilled in the moment, smiling and jumping up and down on the bench.“That was amazing, man," Giannis said. He was only on the team for a year and spent most of his time with its D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, but he made his NBA debut for the squad against the Phoenix Suns.The forward returned to Europe after that experience, playing first with MoraBanc Andorra of the Liga ACB league in Spain and then with the Greek giants Panathinaikos a year later. Basketball was the Antetokounmpo family’s avenue out of poverty.
The broad strokes of Antetokounmpo’s origin story are a modern piece of Greek mythology.Giannis understandably gets most of the attention for what he does on the court, but Thanasis’ career is worth a discussion on its own.
He received only 11 minutes of game time for theMavericks and was waived by the team on July 19.Thanasisplayed one season in 2013-14 with the Delaware 87ers in the NBADevelopment League. Dort wuchs er zusammen mit dreien seiner Geschwister im Athener Stadtteil Sepolia auf. All accomplishing things beyond their wildest dreams, they revel in the collective success of the journey.Then, the Delaware 87ers chose Thanasis with the ninth pick in the NBA D-League Developmental Draft.