Giannis Antetokounmpo’s visit to Nigeria is crucial to basketball fans because it shows that the sport is becoming more popular and that Nigerian athletes are becoming recognized internationally.
A few months after the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation launched the Poverty Is No Joke initiative, Greek-Nigerian basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo (originally Adetokunbo), a two-time National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player, finally made his first trip to Lagos last week.
Antetokounmpo has never shied away from his Nigerian roots. He has already stated that the project would concentrate on three locations: Nigeria, where his parents immigrated, Greece, where he was born, and Milwaukee, where he currently plays.
After obtaining Greek citizenship in 2013, Antetokounmpo’s formal surname was changed to the Greek transliteration of Adetokunbo, Αντετoκούνμπο. On his Greek passport, this was subsequently transliterated letter for letter and formally spelled as Antetokounmpo. His original surname was so complicated that many NBA fans had trouble pronouncing it, which is why he was lovingly called the “Greek Freak.”
On social media, Antetokounmpo expressed his joy after arriving in Nigeria. “Finally made it to Nigeria with Mama the Mama,” he wrote on Saturday night as he tweeted a photo of himself and his mother, Veronica, in Lagos.
His first visit was to the Youth Alive Basketball Championship, which took place on Friday at Rowe Park in the Lagos mainland district of Yaba.
“The kids thought I was crazy and hallucinating when I told them that @Giannis_An34 would be at Rowe Park and pleaded with them to wait another 20 minutes after the event,” tweeted event host Abayomi Ajowele. They claim that the rest is history.
Sports marketing agent Shololo Shuaib claims that Antetokounmpo spent time conversing with and playing with the under-12 division.
Antetokounmpo was also in Nigeria for a short time “to shoot a documentary and it’s connected to the book about him – The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion,” according to @BballNaija, a Twitter account devoted to basketball activities in Nigeria. He departs this Saturday.
The incredible tale of Antetokounmpo’s rise from poverty in Athens, Greece, to superstardom in America with the Milwaukee Bucks is told in Mirin Fader’s book. He is shown as one of the greatest players in history, going on to win an NBA championship.
Only a few months have passed since the Poverty Is No Joke campaign was introduced. Given that both of his parents are from Nigeria, he has strong links to the nation.
In a 2019 interview with The Undefeated, he happily shared their names for the first time. He stressed that although he was born in Athens, his upbringing was deeply rooted in Nigerian culture, which places a high importance on morality, discipline, and respect for elders.
His trip to Africa is not wholly new; in 2015, he scored a game-high 22 points while playing for Team Africa in the first Africa Game in Johannesburg. In 2019, he also received his Nigerian passport, further solidifying his ties to his heritage, according to an interview with The Undefeated.
Because it shows a growing interest in Nigerian basketball and the international acknowledgment of the nation’s talented sportsmen, basketball fans view Antetokounmpo’s visit to Nigeria as noteworthy.