Giannis Antetokounmpo embraces Nigerian heritage, Hakeem Olajuwon's legacy / News - Basketnews.com

Giannis Antetokounmpo stressed that, despite representing Greece NT in international play, his values and principles are strongly influenced by his Nigerian heritage and culture.

Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier - Scanpix Credit AP Photo/Marta Lavandier - Scanpix

Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke on the '48 Minutes' podcast about his origin. The Milwaukee Bucks star player noted that, although he was born in Greece and played for the Greek national team, everyone knows he's Nigerian.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Position:PFAge:28Height:211 cmWeight:98 kgBirth place:Athens, GreeceProfileNewsStatistics

His parents left Nigeria for a better future in Greece, where Giannis was born (in 1994). Giannis Antetokounmpo was raised in Greece but was not a passport holder due to his parents' immigrant status. After turning 18, Giannis applied for a Greek passport, which he received on May 9th, 2013, nearly 6 months after his 18th birthday and just a few months before the 2014 NBA Draft.

"I have the values ​​and principles of Nigeria," he told the podcast.

"After all, my parents are Nigerian and I grew up in such an environment. Of course, I was born in Greece, I grew up in Greece, with the European mentality, so I have information from both sides," he continued and compared his case to that of Hakeem Olajuwon, who's also Nigerian but represented Team USA at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Drawing a parallel with the basketball legend, Giannis emphasized that despite representing Greece on the basketball court, his Nigerian heritage remains an integral part of his identity.

"That's a great compliment to be in the same sentence as Hakeem Olajuwon. One of the best international players to ever play this game. For sure the best African player to ever play this game. I loved his game. I always tried to study his game. I loved that he did it the right way; he stuck with his teammates and won two championships," he said.

"This season for the training camp I have a trip that I’m going to go down to Houston and try to work out with Hakeem Olajuwon," Antetokounmpo said.

"I love his game and if I can kind of take a few things from his game or learn anything from the few days I'm going to spend with him, it's going to be a blessing. It's a guy I looked up to my whole life because he was the number one guy in Nigeria. He was the best athlete in Africa."

Antetokounmpo and Olajuwon are two of three players in NBA history to win the MVP award and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season. Michael Jordan is the only other player to accomplish the feat.

Giannis argued that his values and principles are strongly influenced by his Nigerian upbringing. Growing up in a Nigerian household with Nigerian parents, he embraced the Nigerian culture.

"At the end of the day, everyone knows that I am Nigerian," Giannis said. "I have this culture. In the summer I also went there with my mother, and I met my relatives. I was born in Greece, I have played with Greece, but we all know that I am Nigerian, African," he pointed out.

Giannis also acknowledged the Greek and European influences in his life, particularly due to his education and friendships. He recognized the duality of his identity, stating that "it's a little bit of both."

"I think my values and principles are probably my Nigerian side because whenever I went home, my parents are Nigerian, so we grew up in a Nigerian household. But the way I operate it’s a little bit Greek, it's a little bit European because I went to school and most of my friends are Greek and European," the 29-year-old big man said.

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