Antetokounmpo Quotes

The mindset to have? When you focus on the past, that's your ego. 'I did [this] in the past. I won [that] in the past.' When I focus on the future, that's my pride. 'I'm going to dominate.' That's your pride talking. I try to focus on the moment. In the present. That's humility. That's being humble. That's a skill I'm trying to master.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, Greece on December 6, 1994, to Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo, who migrated from Nigeria all the way to Greece. Charles was a former soccer player while Veronica was a high-jumper. However, both Charles and Veronica were illegal immigrants to Greece. As such, Giannis and two of his other brothers, who were also born in Greece, had no citizenship and were neither Nigerian nor Greek.

I can’t push it to the side. I can’t say, ‘I’ve made it, I’m done with all that.’ I will always carry it with me. It’s where I learned to work like this,

At 18 years old, Giannis stood 6'9" and had a wingspan of 7'3". His hands were among the biggest ever measured in the NBA. Giannis Antetokounmpo's hands measured 12 inches. They were bigger than Kawhi Leonard's, who is famous for his massive mitts.

It wasn't a miracle. If you work hard, you don't drink, don't smoke, you work hard for 8-9 years.

His physical gifts might have been what initially brought him to the NBA, but what truly got Giannis Antetokounmpo to the dance from a skinny and raw foreign player to a leading MVP contender was his hard work. After all, many different players in the past have had similar physical tools but did not have the desire to be great that Giannis has. This desire and hunger for greatness were born from the fact that he needed to work for the things that he wanted when he was still very young because of how poor he and his family were. The tools were already there but it was his hunger for greatness that ultimately allowed him to have one of the greatest work ethics the game has seen since the time of the late great Kobe Bryant.