15 Things You Need To Know About Giannis Antetokounmpo

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Antetokounmpo's No. 34 jersey was the fourth best-selling jersey this past holiday season, according to NBA.com. The only players whose jerseys performed better were Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant. Antetokounmpo also finished second behind LeBron in All-Star fan voting, with about 2.5 million votes.

It’s pretty impressive to see a player from Milwaukee beat out players from every major-market franchise in both of these categories, including the Knicks, Lakers, Celtics, and Bulls.

Antetokounmpo is already making his presence felt in the record books.

Last season, he became the first player in NBA history to finish in the top 20 in all five major categories. This year, he’s top 20 in four of the five categories, save for assists.

The Greek Freak also joined Tracy McGrady and LeBron James as the only players to record 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists before the age of 23. Something tells me that these won’t be the only records Antetokounmpo ends up breaking.

In addition to his aforementioned traditional stats, his advanced stats are great as well. He ranks in the top 20 in win shares (12.1, sixth), offensive win shares (8.5, fifth), defensive win shares (3.5, 19th), box plus-minus (5.9, ninth), and value over replacement players (5.5, fifth). There are few metrics of any kind where Antetokounmpo doesn’t rank as one of the game’s elite.

Again, he’s only 23 years old. Antetokounmpo has room for improvement, and his best days should be ahead of him. Imagine that.

You’d think a future first-rounder like Antetokounmpo would tear up the second division of Greek professional basketball—which in reality is hardly professional basketball. But he actually didn’t; instead, he averaged just 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 26 games for Filathlitikos B.C. in the 2012-13 season (granted, he was only 18).

Only a few guys in NBA history could play any of the five positions—and even fewer could play all five at a high level. LeBron James and Magic Johnson are really the only two major examples that come to mind.

As great as they were (and still are, in LeBron’s case), neither of them may have been as well-rounded at all five positions as Antetokounmpo is. Had he been forced to stick to only one position, he would be a star at that position, no matter what it was. He passes like a point guard, has the speed of a small forward, and at 6’11”, he can throw it down like a center. His skill set is a beautiful hybrid of Allen Iverson, Larry Bird, and Kevin Garnett, one that might otherwise only exist in a video game.

But for Antetokounmpo, it’s real. And it’s spectacular.

In November, Antetokounmpo announced that he and Nike had reached agreement on a “long-term partnership.” This came after several companies attempted to court one of the sneaker game’s biggest free agents; Adidas bought him a truck full of kicks—including some Yeezys—to try to win his services. And Chinese shoe giant Li Ning was believed to have made a push as well.

Subsequent media reports stated that the Nike deal included a signature shoe, which would make him the 22nd player to ever get a signature shoe with Nike, and the first player born outside of the United States to do so. Given the 14-to-18 month timeframe typically needed to create a signature shoe, you can expect your “Giannis 1’s” (or whatever they’ll be called) to drop sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.

In 2017, Antetokounmpo became the first Bucks player to make an All-Star team since Michael Redd in 2004. This year, he became the first Bucks player to make consecutive All-Star teams since Ray Allen did it from 1999-2001. Antetokounmpo also joined Redd and Abdul-Jabbar as the only Bucks players to score 2,000 points in a season, which he did this year.

Whenever your name is being mentioned in the same breath as Kareem, you know you’re doing something right.

Antetokounmpo won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. In 2016, Antetokounmpo agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract extension that would keep him in Milwaukee through 2021. The extension is backloaded, and pays him about $22.5 million this year, with salaries rising to $27.5 million in 2021. Given how well Antetokounmpo has played over the last two seasons, it’s looking like that contract is making him a $100 million bargain—especially considering the ludicrous contracts that many lackluster free agents receive.

The first time Antetokounmpo ever set foot in the U.S. was for the NBA Draft. And when he found out he was selected by the Bucks, he went in with a clean slate — he knew literally nothing about the city. Not the size, location, weather, or the team he was about to play for. Nothing.

When you’re going to the Bucks, maybe ignorance is bliss.

When he came to America, he also didn’t know how to drive or use a bank account. Getting acclimated definitely took a lot of learning, but it’s safe to say he’s done a pretty solid job here so far.

After the Greek Freak literally jumped over 6’6” Tim Hardaway Jr. for a ferocious dunk, the Bucks figured they’d make some money off of it, and began selling t-shirts with an image of the posterization on them.

But Antetokounmpo is no sore winner. In fact, he’s the consummate sportsman. He said that selling the shirts wasn’t the right thing to do, because he didn’t want to embarrass Hardaway. At his request, images of the shirt were quickly scrubbed from the Bucks’ Twitter account.

NBA players should rest easily every time Antetokounmpo wrecks them, because at least he won’t rub it in.

Antetokounmpo was recently the subject of a “60 Minutes” story, which is definitely worth a watch—despite the fact that Antetokounmpo said he had never heard of the show before he was on it.  

The profile details his childhood, growing up in poverty in Athens. Antetokounmpo said that he used to sell glasses, DVDs, and bags in the street as a child. It also touches on his improbable rise to the NBA ranks, his adjustment to American life, and how he is currently coping with the death of his father, who passed away suddenly last year. It portrays him in full, from his assertive dunks on the court to his family-focused life off of it.

If you’re not a fan yet, his story will make you one.

Antetokounmpo is very close with his family: His mother and his younger brothers all live with him, and he admittedly eschews many of the excesses of professional athlete life to spend time with them. He’s the third of five brothers, many of whom are also high-achieving basketball players.

His older brother, Thanasis, was drafted 51st overall by the Knicks in 2014, and he’s currently an All-Star in the Greek league following a cup of coffee in the NBA. His younger brother, Kostas, is currently playing D-1 ball for the University of Dayton. He averaged 5.2 points per game as a freshman this season. And his youngest brother, Alexis, is currently playing high school ball. The Antetokounmpo family is genetically gifted like few other families in history have been—Giannis might not be the only Antetokounmpo to have a long NBA career.