Giannis

Mirin Fader

📚 GENRE: Biographies & Memoirs

📃 PAGES: 400

✅ COMPLETED: October 4, 2024

🧐 RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Short Summary

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a once-in-a-generation basketball talent. How did the man known as the “Greek Freak” come to be? In Giannis, Mirin Fader traces Antetokounmpo’s incredible journey, from his childhood days selling items on the streets of Athens to support his family, to becoming a superstar in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Key Takeaways

1️⃣ Family Over Everything — Giannis and his family are incredibly close, even today. Although the family was very poor during Giannis’s childhood days — to the point where some of them didn’t eat for days — they were happy because they had each other. The tough times they went through together created a strong bond, and Giannis plays for them, not himself. Almost all of the paychecks he received early in his career were sent back home to his family in Greece. When he bought his first house in America, he made sure the master bedroom was spotless so his parents could eventually move into it and live with him. Today, he has a mansion where he and all of his family members live. He even considered leaving the NBA during his rookie season because his family was having problems getting visas. Family is what drives him more than anything. 

2️⃣ Elite Work Ethic — An elite work ethic seems to be a common trait held by successful people in all fields. Giannis is no exception. Throughout his career, he was the hardest working player on every team he played for. The book is filled with story after story of Giannis honing his skills late at night and on off days. He was always looking for ways to improve. The author describes him as somebody who had to be pulled off the court in order to take time away from the game. Keep your head down and work hard. Never settle; look for ways you can improve. 

3️⃣ Be a Good Guy — Giannis’s humility and kindness have remained constant, despite his rise from poverty to global stardom. Raised to be polite, respectful, and considerate of others, Giannis has carried these values with him throughout his career and never views himself as superior to anyone. His fun, down-to-earth personality allows him to connect with people from all walks of life, whether they’re top basketball executives or the arena staff. Nowhere is this mindset more evident than in his deep connection to Milwaukee — a city often disrespected by big stars. From the moment he was drafted, Giannis embraced Milwaukee, and when he chose to sign an extension in 2020 rather than explore free agency, he cemented his legacy as the city’s hero. The takeaway here is to always be kind and respectful to everyone. Never place yourself above other people, no matter how successful you become. You are not better than anybody else. 

Favorite Quote

“It was jarring to him [Tim Frazier] that Giannis, a global icon, was staying later than anyone, sprinting harder than anyone. ‘I don't think Giannis knows what a day off is’, Frazier says. Not even when he is supposed to be taking a day off.”

Prologue

  • About the Book — Giannis is a biography of Giannis Antetokounmpo written by Mirin Fader. The book covers Giannis’s life on and off the court, and charts his rise from a relatively unknown player in Greece to his status today as a minted NBA superstar. 
  • About the Author — Mirin Fader is a renowned sports journalist. She has been honored by the Pro Writers Basketball Association and the Associated Press Sports Editors.
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo — Giannis Antetokounmpo is a six-foot-eleven forward with the Milwaukee Bucks. Since being drafted 15th overall by the Bucks in 2013, he has become one of the best players in NBA history, winning two MVP awards (2018-19 and 2019-20) and two Defensive Player of the Year awards to go with eight All-Star selections (as of September 2024). In 2021, he led Milwaukee to its first NBA championship in more than 50 years. The third-oldest of five brothers, Giannis was born December 6, 1994 and grew up in Sepolia, a neighborhood in Athens, Greece. His Greek roots and lanky 6’11” frame have earned him the nickname “The Greek Freak.” In 2024, he was the flag bearer for Greece in the Paris Olympic Games. 
  • Hard Beginnings — Giannis grew up in a family that was very poor and that often struggled to acquire basic needs like food and shelter. The family moved around a lot and was evicted from their home “many, many times” during Giannis’s childhood. Giannis often starved because food was so scarce. As awful as they were, these difficult conditions drove his incredible work ethic and focus. He’s known as one of the hardest workers in the NBA.
    • Quote (P. xix): “He [Giannis] approaches basketball as if he is still the child in Sepolia [neighborhood in Athens], waving sunglasses in the air on the street, hoping someone will buy from him. So he doesn’t take off possessions. Doesn’t rest much. Has to be told to take breaks, has to be removed from the gym. He operates like he is one poor outing away from being cut.”

Ch. 1: Hunger

  • Nigerian Roots — Giannis’s mom, Veronica, and dad, Charles, are Nigerian. Charles was a professional soccer player before an injury ended his career. The two decided to start a family in Greece because Nigeria — which had experienced three presidential assassinations after it won its independence in 1960 — was not a stable place to raise kids. Giannis was born on December 6, 1994 in Athens. He is Nigerian, and Black people were very rare in Greece in the 1990s and 2000s. The family experienced a lot of racism in a country that was predominantly White. 
  • Coming From Nothing — Giannis and his family were very, very poor in his early years. His dad worked odd jobs around Athens, and his mom primarily moved around to different neighborhoods selling trinkets and random items like sunglasses, DVDs, purses, watches, etc. Giannis and his three brothers would often join their mom on these selling expeditions and help out by trying to sell items, but the money the family made simply was not enough. The whole family was hungry. They barely had enough money to afford shelter, and some days they didn’t eat food at all. Giannis was rail thin as a kid.
    • Quote (P. 1): “Giannis didn’t understand what they were doing at first. What was really happening. How deeply they were suffering. But he knew things weren’t good. He knew he was hungry. He’d see their pantry, their fridge, bare. Some days they didn’t sell enough to have a meal until late into the night. He saw that being here, convincing someone to buy something from them, was a matter of eating or not eating. Surviving or not surviving.”
    • Quote (P. 24): “It was a grind. Sometimes they’d make just ten dollars, selling a toy, a watch, but it was enough to not starve that day. And that was considered a good day.”
  • Introduction to Basketball — As a kid, Giannis wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and play professional soccer. He had no desire to play basketball. In fact, he didn’t touch a basketball until age 13, which is very late compared to most kids. And the only reason he decided to try basketball was because a local coach in Athens (Spiros Velliniatis) noticed him and his long arms on the playground. Velliniatis approached Giannis and his brothers and offered to help their parents find consistent work if they joined his youth basketball team, which was called Filathlitikos. Because Giannis knew his family needed money, he reluctantly agreed and played with the club for six years. He was awful at first. He lacked hand-eye coordination, and his family’s lack of food meant he was so thin that opponents had no problem overpowering him. Velliniatis is credited with “discovering” Giannis.
  • Hunger Problems — The big takeaway from this chapter is how hungry Giannis and his family were. The entire family, including the kids, worked hard to sell items on the street, but they weren’t making enough money to put much food on the table. Members of Giannis’s Filathlitikos team began to sense that he was not eating and constantly asked him if he wanted food, but he always refused. One day, he passed out at practice. 
  • Work Ethic & Drive — Despite operating on an empty stomach all the time, Giannis was the hardest worker on his Filathlitikos team. He was terrible in his first few years of playing basketball. He was rail thin, didn’t shoot well, and was not very coordinated. Yet he outhustled and outworked everyone. He always gave a full effort at practice and games. Despite also helping his family sell items on the streets of Athens, he put more hours into developing his game than the other kids. He slowly began to get better.
    • Quote (P. 17): “What was clear was that there was an edge to him. A hardness to him. He ripped down rebounds fiercely. He’d practice moves he couldn’t master over and over rather than drink water during breaks. And in games, kids knocked him around, but he never stayed down on the floor for more than a second or two before popping back up. ‘He wasn’t as strong as the other kids at the camp, but he tried two hundred percent more than every kid,’ Pantelakis says.”
    • Quote (P. 28): “After the team would finish a 9:00 a.m. practice, everyone would go home, rest, eat, and return at 5:00 p.m. for a second training session. They’d come back to the court and see the same thing every time: ‘Giannis hadn’t left the court’, says Saloustros, a Filathlitikos teammate and close friend. That rubbed off on other players. ‘He was working so hard — it made me work hard,’ says Kamperidis, Giannis’s other Filathlitikos teammate and close friend, who now plays for the Greek club Larisa.”
    • Quote (P. 47): “Sometimes, in the summer, Giannis would stay in the gym all day. ‘He could stay ten hours,’ [former teammate] Gkikas says. Everyone else would leave. Giannis might not have had anything to eat. He might not have had bus money. Sometimes it was just too late at night. But he’d complete his team’s practice, then the men’s team practice, then work out in the gym by himself. Shoot, shoot, shoot.”
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis endured a huge amount of hardship as a young boy growing up in Athens. His family was very poor, and he didn’t eat much at all. He was always hungry. Although he initially wanted to be a pro soccer player, he started playing basketball because a local coach noticed his unique length and asked him to join his team in exchange for some financial help. The financial assistance helped, but the family was still very poor, and Giannis was always on the street helping his mom sell trinkets.  

Ch. 2: Dreaming

  • The Antetokounmpo Brothers — Giannis is one of five boys in the Antetokounmpo family. Amazingly, four of the five brothers made it to the NBA. Thanasis Antetokounmpo is a teammate of Giannis on the Milwaukee Bucks (as of 2024). Giannis and Thanasis won an NBA championship together in 2021. Giannis’s brother Kostas won an NBA championship with the LA Lakers in 2020. Another brother, Alex, is also in the NBA. Francis, the oldest of the brothers, stayed in Nigeria when the parents immigrated to Greece and never explored basketball. 
  • Attitude of Gratitude — The Antetokounmpo brothers are extremely close. As kids, Giannis idolized older brother Thanasis, and Alex and Kostas idolized Giannis, who was older than them. Because the family was so poor, the brothers shared everything. Giannis and Thanasis shared basketball shoes. All of the brothers shared clothes and food. They also slept in the same room. Nobody ever threw a fit about this; in fact, the family was very happy. The brothers learned the difference between wants and needs at a very young age. As long as they had each other, the family was happy. They had an attitude of gratitude — they focused on what they did have rather than what they didn’t have. And that’s the best attitude anyone can have!
    • Quote (P. 23): “They [the family] managed to always find something to smile about, Kostas recalls, because they learned the difference between want and need. Stopped thinking about what they wanted. Stopped thinking about what they didn’t have — they focused on gratitude for what they did have.”
  • Next Play Mentality — Because the family couldn’t afford bus tickets, Giannis and Thanasis had to walk to their Filathlitikos practices, often on an empty stomach. Roundtrip, this was a 10-mile walk. But both brothers slowly began to get better and better. Their father Charles always gave them great advice after a bad game: “Tomorrow is another day. Let go of the past. Just keep working.” To me, this is the “next play” mentality. No matter what happens to you in life, good or bad, you have to find a way to put it behind you, turn the page, and focus on the next thing. Dwelling on things does you absolutely no good; it’s a complete waste of time and energy. Focus on the next play and keep working. 
  • Filathlitikos Basketball — In his early years with the Filathlitikos team, Giannis was not a good player. Amazingly, his own classmates at school picked him last for half-court games. But he progressively got better. Part of the reason he improved was that Filathlitikos played a unique style of basketball — one that allowed Giannis to push the ball up court and improvise. When Giannis entered the NBA, many people were blown away because he was a big man who could dribble, shoot, and had skill. Most big men up to that point were very unskilled and simply sat in the post. Giannis was one of the first big-bodied players in NBA history who could do it all. He has the skills of a post player and a point guard. A lot of this goes back to his time with Filathlitikos, where the coaches encouraged him to dribble and create in the open court.
    • Quote (P. 26): “He [Giannis] was still learning the basics. Even his classmates at school wouldn’t pick him for half-court games; that motivated him to one day be so good that he could choose not to play with them.”
    • Quote (P. 26): “Giannis had a chance to flourish under [Coach] Zivas’s system because Zivas’s team didn’t play traditional Greek basketball. Zivas wanted his teams to run a fast break, play fast in transition. Generate as many possessions as possible. . . Giannis’s length and speed were perfect for Zivas’s improvisational system. He started to grab rebounds and take off downcourt. He didn’t have to pass the ball to the point guard; he was the point guard. And then sometimes he was the small forward. Or the power forward.”
  • Passion for Defense — Because he was not a good player early on, particularly offensively, Giannis developed a love for defense, as that was a part of his game he could control with sheer effort. The lack of food he was getting meant he was very thin and was routinely overpowered by opponents in games. But his long arms gave him tremendous length, and he used that length to block shots and play strong defense. Today, he is a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. 
  • A Young Leader — Giannis is described in this book as “older than his years.” He was a leader at very young age — a leader of his brothers and a leader of his friends and teammates. A lot of this is due to how much responsibility he took on as a kid. He was always out helping his Mom sell things on the streets of Athens. He is described as being very polite and respectful. Everybody he interacted with was impressed with his manners, discipline, and work ethic. He helped people whenever he could, even though he himself needed help. He was, and still is, a really good dude who has strong values and puts family above everything else. 
  • Chapter Takeaway — Family was everything to the Antetokounmpos. They didn’t have much, but they loved each other and chose to live with an attitude of gratitude. As a result, they were happy. Giannis proved himself to be a strong leader from a young age.

Ch. 3: Stateless

  • Racism In Greece — Greece is a predominately white country. As Nigerian migrants, Giannis and his family stuck out in Greece and experienced quite a bit of racism. Giannis tried not to complain, but it took a toll on him, as it did for his brothers and other Black people in the country. One Greek nationalist group, called the Golden Dawn, went around physically and verbally abusing migrants and Black people. Giannis and his family were afraid of them, especially since they spent a lot of time walking around on the streets of Athens. Despite the racism he dealt with, Giannis loved, and still loves, Greece. He is proud to be from Greece. 
  • No ID — Giannis technically didn’t belong to Nigeria or Greece. He was stateless. He was born in Athens but, unlike the United States, being born in Greece does not mean you automatically become a citizen. His parents never filed the paperwork for Giannis to become a citizen because they were undocumented immigrants from Nigeria and were in constant fear of being deported. This meant Giannis did not have any kind of official identification, including a passport, and could not travel to some of his Filathlitikos basketball games. He was eventually cleared to become a citizen of Greece on May 9, 2013, days before he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2013 NBA Draft. 
  • “Killer” Mindset — One of the traits that helped Giannis become great at basketball was what he called “killer mode.” He is an extremely hard worker and is always focused on improving. His work ethic and determination allowed him to maximize his skillset and master his long, athletic frame. He never stopped working. This focused, ambitious mindset seems to be a common trait among elite athletes and highly successful people in all fields. Constantly look for ways to improve. Establish good habits that make you better and have the discipline to execute them every day.
    • Quote (P. 68): “But he [Giannis] couldn’t relax. He couldn’t let anyone see weakness in him. He would teach his brothers that what separates players, what separates people, is the ability to recognize when the mind relaxes. ‘It’s human nature,’ Giannis would tell his brothers. But the mind has to return to ‘killer mode’, as he calls it, as soon as possible.”
  • Chapter Takeaway — The lack of official citizenship in Greece was a problem for Giannis as he continued to get better at basketball. The Greek government was very slow about helping him complete his papers, and it eventually reached such a sticking point that Giannis and his team tried to file for citizenship in Nigeria instead. Once the Greek government realized that Giannis would be drafted to the NBA, they accelerated the process and made him a Greek citizen. This enabled him to be drafted in the 2013 NBA draft. 

Ch. 4: Found

  • A “Mysterious” Prospect — It’s important to note that Giannis really was not considered a can’t-miss prospect. The fact that he didn’t start playing basketball until age 13 (most prospects were playing in elite youth tournaments at this age) and he played in Greece’s A2 league (not even the top league in Greece; that was the A1 league) with Filathlitikos meant that he flew under the radar with scouts. Greece’s A2 league was filled with guys who were out of shape and generally not very good. Scouts didn’t begin to look deeply into Giannis until 2013, the year he was drafted. And when they did come out to Greece to watch him play, he was considered a major mystery because of the terrible competition he was playing against. Overall, he was considered by NBA scouts as a raw talent with big upside but major risk. Scouts loved his hustle, elite dribbling skills as a big-man, and demeanor, but they didn’t like that his thin frame was often overpowered in the post and he played against awful players.
    • Quote (P. 94): “He [Giannis] was a mystery because he wasn’t playing for Greece’s top two teams. He was a mystery because he was an international player. He was a mystery because people couldn’t pronounce his name. And he was a mystery because he had remarkable athleticism and an almost freakishly lanky body, having ‘absurd length, gigantic hands, and springs in his legs’, one analyst wrote.”
  • The Greek Freak: What Made Giannis Different? — What attracted NBA scouts to Giannis was the fact that he was so athletic and skilled for a player his height. He had the dribbling and finishing skills of a point guard at the size of a post player. He had speed and agility. He was quick. He could snatch a rebound, take it the length of the court in three dribbles, and dunk it. In an era where big men were primarily post players who clogged up the lane, scouts had not seen anything quite like Giannis before, which is why the Bucks and Atlanta Hawks were very interested in drafting him. This unique skillset is what earned him the nickname “The Greek Freak.”
    • Quote (P. 284): “He [Giannis] continued to be praised for how different he was. What a freak he was. A near seven-footer who can maneuver up and down the floor like a guard. A bigger player who has uncanny vision. A player who can guard positions one through five, not willing to give up a single play.”
  • Family Over Everything — One of the big takeaways from the book is how close Giannis and his family are. They are incredibly close. A lot of that has to do with the struggle they went through together. Despite struggling to find food and being evicted from their place of residence several times, the family was happy because they had each other. When Giannis began to get attention from some European professional teams and NBA teams, he made it clear that he expected to have his family come along wherever he went. He wanted to make it big for them. He wanted to take care of them. Even now, in 2024, Giannis lives in one giant mansion with his Mom and brothers.
    • Quote (P. 94): “The [Atlanta] Hawks fell in love with Giannis’s personality from that meeting. The staffer wrote in his notebook later that night: One of the all-time best interviews. Great smile. Humble, thoughtful. Seems to love the game and his family. Comes across as genuine, young, simple, smart. Biggest takeaway is that the two most important things in his life are basketball and family. He wants to move his dad, mom, younger brothers to the States, and his dream is to live in one big house together. He wants his younger brothers to go to high school and college in the States. That dream — to move his family into one house in America — still makes the staffer emotional to this day.”
    • Quote (P. 104): “The Bucks had booked Giannis and Thanasis in two separate rooms. The brothers didn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing. That seemed crazy to them. Way too extravagant. So Thanasis stayed in Giannis’s room, and they slept in one bed. Just as they always had.”
  • Drawing NBA Interest — The Milwaukee Bucks began looking into Giannis in 2013. General Manager John Hammond flew out to Greece to watch Giannis play in March 2013. At that time, and in the ensuing months, many more NBA GMs and scouts came out to Greece to watch him. In fact, Giannis’s Filathlitikos team had to buy more chairs because there weren’t enough bleacher seats in the gym to accommodate everyone who was coming to look at him. The locals in Greece were astounded and amused by all of the attention. They had never seen anything like it. The quality of competition Giannis was facing was the main source of skepticism for the Bucks and all of the other teams that were evaluating him.
    • Quote (P. 85): “The more the [NBA] scouts watched, the trickier they found evaluating Giannis. The level of play was so poor that it was difficult to envision him against NBA-caliber players.”
  • Almost an Atlanta Hawk; Drafted by the Bucks — Giannis was very close to being an Atlanta Hawk. Hawks GM Danny Ferry even hosted Giannis and Thanasis at his house for a few days before the draft. Giannis was able to explore the city and play with Ferry’s kids. They built a strong connection. The Hawks kept their intentions to draft Giannis a secret, even from people inside the organization. They did not want anybody knowing that they planned to draft him. Ferry was so sure about Giannis that he made what is known as a “draft-day guarantee.” This was a nonbinding promise that Atlanta would draft Giannis if he was available at their pick, which was No. 17 overall. The Bucks ended up taking Giannis at No. 15, and the Hawks were devastated.
  • Exceeding Expectations — Giannis was such a raw and mysterious prospect. At just 18-years-old, Giannis was the youngest player in the 2013 draft. In the span of less than a year, he went from playing in Greece’s terrible A2 league to facing NBA players. He went on to grow two more inches [to 6’11”] and add 40 pounds of muscle to his frame in the following years. Nobody, not even the Bucks, thought Giannis would one day win two NBA MVP awards and become one of the best players in NBA history. He has completely stunned everyone who evaluated him.
    • Quote (P. 86): “But the Celtics moved on from Giannis. ‘I thought he was absolutely a worthwhile project,’ [Celtics GM Danny] Ainge later told the Boston Herald. ‘But never in a million years did I see him becoming a potential best-player-in-the-league type of player.’”
    • Quote (P. 87): “[Atlanta Hawks GM Danny] Ferry is cautious about making those kinds of comparisons because even though he did see a great deal of potential in Giannis, he had no conception at the time that Giannis would morph into one of the best players in the world. ‘No one predicted this,’ Ferry says.”
    • Quote (P. 102): “‘It really was one of the oddest drafts in the history of the [NBA] draft’, [Bill] Simmons says. ‘The fact that Giannis became by far the biggest gem out of that draft [the 2013 NBA Draft]? If we had listed thirty predictions for that draft, that would not have been in the thirty.’”
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis was a mysterious prospect who has completely surpassed all expectations that scouts and GMs had of him. Nobody had seen an athlete quite like him, so it was hard to forecast what his future could be in the NBA. The level of competition he faced in Greece was also a big source of doubt for NBA teams when they evaluated him. 

Ch. 5: America

  • Passion for Perfection — Giannis is a perfectionist. From the intricacies of his game to learning English, he wanted to master everything he did. His strong work ethic was crucial in the early years of his career. He went from playing in Greece’s A2 league — where the competition was terrible — to playing in the NBA as the youngest player in the league.
    • Quote (P. 114): “Giannis listened. Sought out advice. He was different from many first-rounders with astronomical egos. ‘He was like a piece of clay’, [Assistant Coach] Oppenheimer says. ‘Whatever you told him to do, he wanted to do it. And if he couldn’t do it, he did it until he could do it.’”
    • Quote (P. 114): “No one spent more time in the gym after practice than Giannis . . . He’d labor on the same move over and over. ‘He had heart’, says Cleamons, who would often tell Giannis, ‘Giannis, you’re going to be a wonderful player someday, just don’t become Americanized.’ ‘What are you talking about?’ Giannis said. ‘I mean: Don’t become Americanized. Don’t forget those work habits.’”
    • Quote (P. 115): “That stubborn part of Giannis, who wanted to get every move perfect, was the same way with learning English. He worked hard.”
  • Welcome to America — When Giannis first arrived in America, he was like a kid in a candy store. From milkshakes at McDonalds, cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory, his new three bedroom, two bath apartment, Walmart, Costco, Applebee’s, and everything in-between, he was blown away by all that our country has to offer. Many fans and people inside the organization found his reaction to discovering all of these things very amusing. In many ways, he was like a child discovering new toys. Everything he encountered was so much different than his life in Greece.
    • Quote (P. 151): “Giannis couldn’t believe that the Bucks provided tables of food before and after practice. Platters of pasta. Energy bars. Chicken. Gatorade. Chips. For free. After everyone had taken theirs, he would fill up four or five plastic containers of the food to take home. His teammates would look at him strangely, unsure why he was hoarding food.”
  • Inconsistent Rookie Season — Giannis’s rookie season with the Bucks was filled with ups and downs. The team itself stunk. They were one of the worst teams in the NBA that year. Giannis was a bench player and wasn’t getting much playing time. When he did get on the court, he showed flashes of incredible athleticism, but he also committed far too many turnovers and was routinely overpowered in the paint by stronger opponents. He just wasn’t very consistent, and the game was moving too fast for him. One big positive was that he was lifting weights for the first time in his life and put on a lot of weight; he added 30 pounds of muscle to his frame in his first few months with the Bucks.
    • Quote (P. 144): “He [Giannis] had to be great. Now. But he wasn’t anywhere near great. Anyone watching could tell he was going to be really good at some point. Some future time. He was a Project with a capital P, a player who excited, who frustrated. Who dazzled, who disappointed.”
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis’s first year in America was a whirlwind. There were a lot of ups and downs both on and off the court. On the court, he was inconsistent but hardworking. Off the court, he was enjoying his new lifestyle but missed his family back home in Greece. 

Ch. 6: Lonely

  • Homesick — Because family was everything to Giannis, he was very homesick during his rookie season with Milwaukee. He missed his family back home in Greece. The Bucks were doing everything possible to get his parents and brothers the paperwork they needed to move to America, but the government in Greece was not cooperating. Giannis bought a three-bed, two-bath condo when he first moved to Milwaukee, and he fully intended to have his family move in with him eventually. He even slept in the smallest room, keeping the master bedroom in perfect condition for his parents. He also sent the majority of his paychecks to his family to support them.
    • Quote (P. 139): “‘It killed him’, Alex [Antetokounmpo] says about Giannis being away from the family. ‘He was calling us all the time. He missed us and was constantly thinking about how he was going to bring us over there.’”
    • Quote (P. 139): “He [Giannis] was more than homesick, more than frustrated. For the first time in his life, he was deeply lonely. Lost.”
    • Quote (P. 139): “Giannis would Skype with his family early in the morning or late at night because of the eight-hour time difference. The internet made them feel near, but after logging off, he’d realize they were so very far away. Everything had changed so quickly. He was sending them most of the money he was making, hardly concerned whether he had enough for himself.”
  • Threatening to Go Home — Giannis’s homesickness and loneliness actually reached a point where he told his family and a few people inside the Bucks organization that he would leave the NBA and return home if his parents and brothers were not cleared to come to America soon. This all goes back to who Giannis is as a person — family means everything to him. Remember, the only reason he even got into basketball in the first place was to support his parents and help his family achieve a better life. He played basketball as a way out of the struggle; as a way to help his family escape the depths of poverty and starvation. He plays basketball for them, not himself. The fact that his family was still stuck in Greece well into his rookie season bothered him tremendously. This strong sense of responsibility and connection to his family has remained central to his identity throughout his career.
    • Quote (P. 140): “Giannis relayed a similar message to his agents, telling them that the only reason he wanted to play in the NBA was to provide a better life for his family. Without them, what reason was there to remain in America? ‘Take me back’, Giannis said. ‘I’d rather be with my family than just being over here.’ His agents were trying to help with the visas as much as they could. With the family having been declined twice already, the situation was growing more tenuous by the day.”
  • Frugal Giannis — Another amusing part of Giannis’s personality in his early days in the NBA was his obsession with not spending money and living well below his means. He sent the majority of the money in each paycheck to his family back home in Greece, and he tried to avoid spending any money with what he had left. Amusingly, he wore just two pairs of shoes during his entire rookie season even though he had an unlimited amount of shoes to choose from, courtesy of the Bucks. His first pair was a completely bland pair of Nike shoes. He wore those until they began to literally break apart. When the equipment manager begged him to wear new shoes to avoid getting injured, he refused. When the pair finally broke apart, he asked if they could be fixed before accepting that he needed a new pair. 
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis was very lonely throughout his rookie season in the NBA. Family means everything to him, so not being able to see his family and brothers (who were stuck in Greece) was killing him. He even considered leaving the NBA to go home and be with them. 

Ch. 7: Hope

  • The Bucks: A Small-Market Team — The Bucks are a small-market team. Historically, ownership has had the goal of simply being competitive rather than striving for championships. Attendance is generally pretty low when the team is not competitive (the Bucks had the lowest attendance in the 2013-14 season, which was Giannis’s rookie year), and the amount of staff they employ is fairly low. Prior to their new stadium, which opened in 2018, the Bucks arena was an embarrassment: it was right up against a local church, there were cockroaches and leaks from the roof, and they didn’t have an indoor parking garage, which was unfortunate due to how cold it gets in the winter. In fact, it was so bad that the Bucks were constantly rumored to leave Milwaukee if they couldn’t raise enough money and support to build a new arena. But, like most small-market teams, the Bucks have tremendously loyal fans who love their club.
    • Quote (P. 159): “The Bucks didn’t operate like most modern NBA franchises. It was more like a mom-and-pop shop, with one of the smallest staffs in the league. It has always been like that.”
    • Quote (P. 160): “‘Nobody in the organization ever talked about winning a championship’, says a former Bucks employee. ‘Every decision made on the business side and basketball side was kind of in survival mode. It gave you short-term buzz, but there was no view of ultimately building a championship franchise.’”
  • Kareem Leaves Milwaukee — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was drafted out of UCLA by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969, just their second season as a franchise. The next year, the Bucks traded for Oscar Robertson, a 12-time NBA All-Star. Together, the two stars led the Bucks to an NBA title in 1971. Kareem was named NBA MVP and Finals MVP that year. But Kareem, whose birth name was Lew Alcindor, was traded to the LA Lakers in 1975 after demanding out of Milwaukee. He simply wasn’t happy there, once describing the city as merely “where I work.” The fact that Kareem demanded out was incredibly hurtful to the people of Milwaukee. They felt insulted. They felt like they weren’t “good enough” for Kareem. His departure was the start of several decades of bad Bucks basketball. Just as bad, it gave Milwaukee a reputation of being a city where stars — like Giannis — would never want to play.
    • Quote (P. 162): “It [Kareem’s trade demand] set a precedent that would be felt for decades to come; that stars don’t belong in Milwaukee. They might start there, but they will eventually leave.”
    • Quote (P. 168): “When Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Lakers in 1975, in one of the most monumental trades in NBA history, something fundamentally changed in Milwaukee. The trauma of losing not just the city’s star player but a generational player, after having achieved unimaginable success, was brutal. It hurt. Some felt insulted. Bitter. We’re not good enough for you? We’re too small for you?”
  • Giannis Brought Hope to Milwaukee — Giannis’s rise to becoming one of the best players in NBA history helped stabilize the Bucks franchise and infused a huge amount of pride in the Milwaukee fanbase and overall community. This is a team that has had a history of losing and was constantly feared by fans to leave Milwaukee. Part of this fear goes back to the Milwaukee Hawks (now the Atlanta Hawks) leaving in 1955 (the current Bucks represent Milwaukee’s second attempt at a basketball franchise). Giannis’s outstanding play helped the franchise build a new arena that opened in 2018. It also helped alleviate the city’s reputation for not being “good enough” for star players following Kareem’s trade demand. Giannis has completely embraced Milwaukee since his first day there, and the city loves him back. In many ways, Giannis saved the franchise.
    • Quote (P. 163): “For Milwaukee basketball fans who have continued to love its team through years of agony, Giannis represented possibility. Hope. Excitement. He wasn’t yet [at the time of his rookie season] the Messiah, not even close to the player Abdul-Jabbar was, but the fantasy of what Giannis could become was tantalizing.”
    • Quote (P. 174): “When they [Milwaukee natives] saw him [Giannis] play, they felt understood. When they learned his story, they felt seen. Like many of them, Giannis had come from nothing, Like many of them, Giannis worked all his life for a mere slice of the pie. And like many of them, Giannis hoped for better. Giannis was Milwaukee. A bright light in a dark, dreary winter.”
  • Giannis’s Personality — The book does a nice job of giving the reader an inside look at Giannis’s personality. This is a guy who came from nothing. He grew up in poverty, sold items on the streets in Greece to help support his family, and played in a terrible gym. As a result, he seems to be very grateful for everything basketball has given him, including things that other people complain about, like the cold weather in Milwaukee and the previous Bucks arena. He’s a happy guy who loves life and is grateful for all that he has, especially his family. Family seems to be his No. 1 priority in life; he used to send all of his paychecks to them early in his career, for example. He seems to be extremely polite, respectful, and kind to others. He doesn’t act like he’s better than anyone else. He also seems to be a bit of a goofball — he has fun with people and has a bubbly personality. This is a truly good person who remembers his roots and lives with a lot of love and gratitude. His work ethic, drive, effort, and constant hustle also set him apart. In many ways, he is a perfect representation of the city of Milwaukee.
    • Quote (P. 289): “So much of Giannis is Milwaukee. How blue-collar he is. How he doesn’t act like he’s better than anyone else. ‘He treats everybody with the same respect as the next person’, says Logan Miranda, a Bucks team attendant who often guards the home locker room. During Miranda’s first year with the Bucks, Giannis was putting on sneakers when he noticed Miranda. Giannis then walked up to Miranda and introduced himself. ‘Hi, I’m Giannis’.”
  • Chapter Takeaway — With the exception of a few great years prior to Giannis’s arrival, the Bucks have mostly been a losing franchise. Their long history of losing and status as a small-market team led many people to believe that they would leave Milwaukee at some point. Giannis changed all of that. His ascension to becoming one of the best players in the NBA helped rally the city, infused a culture of winning, and led to the construction of a brand-new arena, which opened in 2018. Fans call the arena “the house that Giannis built.” In many ways, Giannis saved the franchise. 

Ch. 8: Reunited

  • Reunited With Family — On February 3, 2014, Giannis’s parents, Charles and Veronica, and his brothers, Alex and Kostas, arrived in the United States after acquiring visas. The Bucks worked really hard for months to help the family get visas. The day they moved to America is described as “one of the happiest days” of Giannis’s life. He was thrilled to have them with him again. Their arrival came in the middle of Giannis’s rookie season, so they were able to attend games. Older brother Thanasis was later drafted by the New York Knicks in June during the 2014 NBA Draft. 
  • Abysmal Rookie Season — The Bucks finished Giannis’s rookie campaign with an abysmal 15-67 record, the worst season in the history of the franchise. Giannis showed flashes of greatness, but he was largely inconsistent. He led all rookies with 61 blocks and made the All-Rookie second team. A lot of change took place in the offseason: the team was sold to a new ownership group, head coach Larry Drew was fired and replaced by Jason Kidd, and the Bucks selected Jabari Parker out of Duke with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.  
  • Chapter Takeaway — The Bucks were able to bring Giannis’s family to America in early 2014 after working for months to help his parents and younger brothers acquire proper visas. Having his family with him in Milwaukee instantly relieved the feelings of loneliness Giannis had been experiencing during his rookie season. 

Ch. 9: Mean

  • Elite Work Ethic — Giannis’s elite work ethic is a theme throughout this book. He simply worked harder than everyone else, and it’s one of the major reasons he became one of the top players in the NBA. He worked hard as a kid learning the game, and he worked hard as a professional trying to maximize his potential in the NBA. The author relays story after story about Giannis working on his game alone in the Bucks gym well into the early hours of the morning. He also had an elite motor; from the first time he picked up a basketball, he gave maximum effort on the court. He hustled to every ball. He fought back when guarding guys that were bigger in the post. He sprinted back after committing a turnover. You have to have a great work ethic to be successful in any field.
    • Quote (P. 202): “‘One of the things that Giannis did that set himself apart from the others,’ [Assistant Coach Sean] Sweeney says, ‘was that he had in his mind that ‘I want to be the hardest-working player in the world.’’”
    • Quote (P. 202): “Giannis worked out just as intensely as he played games maybe even more intensely. ‘He put in time others weren’t willing to do,’ [Assistant Coach Sean] Sweeney says. ‘He wanted to be pushed past where he thought he could be pushed.’”
    • Quote (P. 206): “‘You’re not going to break this kid’, [Bucks GM John] Hammond says. ‘Jason [Kidd] would challenge him, and Giannis would come right back at him for more. Look — Jason’s a tough guy. He’s a real tough guy. But so is Giannis.’”
    • Quote (P. 280): “[Eric] Harper would walk in at 10:00 p.m. and find Giannis there [Bucks practice court], laboring on his midrange game.”
    • Quote (P. 281): “It was jarring to him [Tim Frazier] that Giannis, a global icon, was staying later than anyone, sprinting harder than anyone. ‘I don’t think Giannis knows what a day off is’, Frazier says. Not even when he is supposed to be taking a day off.”
  • Better Second Season — Giannis began to flourish in his second season with the Bucks. He started nearly every game that year, highlighted by a then-career high 25 points against the LA Lakers. The Bucks went 41-41 that year, a 26-game improvement over their previous season, and they clinched the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. Their season came to an end in the first round, as the Chicago Bulls beat them in six games. 
  • Playing Angry — One of the keys to Giannis’s success in his second year, and the years after, was his approach of playing angry. He made a conscious effort to play “mean” and play angry. A lot of this was sort of drawn out of him by head coach Jason Kidd, who liked playing mind games with him and the rest of the team. Kidd eventually pissed off Giannis to the point where he turned angry and decided to channel that anger on the court during games. Giannis, in his goofy way, even decided to work on a scowl that he could use after big plays. He modeled it after Russell Westbrook’s scowl.
    • Quote (P. 218): “Afterward, Giannis told reporters he had played ‘angry’. Then he showed them what he meant, showed them his scowl. He scrunched up his cheeks, tightened his nose, dubbed it his ‘ugly face’. Then he softened, unwrinkled his forehead, and smiled. He laughed, and reporters did too. ‘The ugly face was prettier today,’ Giannis joked. ‘I had swag too’. Then he stiffened back up and explained his approach from there on out: ‘I try to be angry when I play,’ he said. ‘I try to be mad. Mean, man!’”
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis’s work ethic has been one of the major keys to his success. His elite work ethic, paired with his God-given abilities, have helped him become one of the best players in NBA history. 

Ch. 10: Star

  • Third Season: Emerging Into a Star — Giannis’s breakthrough season came in his third campaign with the Bucks. He entered that season (2015-16) bigger than ever at 242 pounds and dropped 27 points on opening night. He later turned in a then-career high 33 points against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In February of that season, Jason Kidd moved Giannis to point guard for a few games. He flourished in the role, stringing together four triple-doubles over the next month. Being able to play point guard at his size is a testament to Giannis’s freakish abilities — the guy has the agility of a ballroom dancer and the power of a bulldozer. The Bucks missed the playoffs, but Giannis finished the season averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists per night. 
  • Fourth Season: A Star Is Born — Giannis only continued to improve in his fourth season, the 2016-17 campaign. Prior to that season, he signed a 4-year, $100 million deal to stay in Milwaukee. This was the season that Giannis became a full-fledged star. He was named an All-Star Game starter — he scored a game-high 30 points — and became the first player in NBA history to finish top twenty in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in a single season. The guy can do it all. And he can legitimately play all five positions on the court. The Bucks earned the No. 6 seed in the postseason but fell to the Toronto Raptors in the opening round. Giannis made the all-NBA second team and won Most Improved Player that year.
    • Quote (P. 238): “Giannis became the first Greek player to participate in an All-Star game. He was also Milwaukee’s first NBA All-Star since Michael Redd in 2004 and the first Buck voted in as a starter since Sidney Moncrief in 1984.”
  • Giannis’s Winning Mindset — As he continued to learn and develop, Giannis became obsessed with improving his game. Although he is described as a goofball and a “big kid” at heart, he was very serious about basketball. He was hyper-competitive and wanted to win everything. He worked his ass off all the time. When he didn’t play well and meet his high standards, he was mad at himself and took it personal. That disappointment drove him to improve. He was obsessive about getting better. This winning mindset drove his success.
    • Quote (P. 227): “Sometimes Giannis was so hard on himself, thinking he wasn’t living up to it. ‘He takes everything personal’, says [teammate] Jabari Parker, who had grown closer to Giannis. ‘After a loss, after he doesn’t think he plays well, you know not to talk to him.’”
    • Quote (P. 228): “Some teammates shared Vásquez’s concern: they thought maybe Giannis was unhappy playing basketball because he looked so serious, so intense, all the time. ‘He blamed himself for almost everything’, Vásquez says . . . ‘Most nights, you couldn’t recognize if he was happy or uncomfortable. Most of the time, he was uncomfortable because he wanted to be better and he was not satisfied’, Vásquez says.”
    • Quote (P. 228): “Giannis was obsessed with getting better — and bigger. By 3:30 p.m., he’d already be fully drenched, sweating through a workout, ahead of a 7:30 game.”
    • Quote (P. 288): “In Giannis’s mind, he couldn’t relax. He always told his brothers that. ‘It’s human nature to want to relax, but you can’t relax. You have to get back into killer mode.’”
  • Learning From Legends — The winning mindset that Giannis was developing was reinforced by one-on-one meetings with two legends of the game: Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. Giannis spent time with both of these players and took their words to heart. Both stressed the importance of focusing on daily improvement and outworking everyone. This is the type of mentality it takes to be great in any field. Excerpts from these meetings are below:
    • Quote (P. 230): “Kobe also told him about the kind of mentality it took to be great. ‘Be serious until the last day you play basketball’, Kobe told him, also noting the importance of recovery, of taking care of one’s body, of making sacrifices. ‘You have to have that killer mindset’, Kobe continued. ‘That mindset that you will not be beat. That you will outwork everybody.’”
    • Quote (P. 237): “Then [Kevin] Garnett walked toward Giannis, who was warming up his shot under the basket. Garnett told him to trust his work ethic. ‘It’s all about your mentality’, Garnett told Giannis. ‘You have to have a warrior mentality. Look, man — if you have that, nobody can stop you!’ Garnett told him he had to dominate by any means necessary. Don’t have any friends on the court.”
  • Leaving the Nest — Prior to the 2016-17 season, Giannis moved into his own place. For the first several years that his parents and brothers were in America, the whole family lived together in a townhouse in Milwaukee. That’s mind-blowing. An NBA superstar choosing to live in the same house as his parents and brothers. But that’s how important family is to Giannis. Although he moved out, he bought a place inside the same complex, so he was only minutes away from his family. Around this time, Giannis had his first child, Liam, with his now-wife, Mariah Riddlesprigger. 
  • Chapter Takeaway — Giannis began to emerge as an NBA star in his third and fourth seasons with Milwaukee. His work ethic and constant search for improvement were at the heart of his success. Guidance from Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett helped him develop a strong mentality. 

Ch. 11: Loss

  • Death of Father — In September 2017, a few days before the 2017-18 NBA season tipped off, Giannis’s dad Charles died of a heart attack at just 54-years-old. It was a heartbreaking time for the entire family. It changed Giannis. He channeled his pain and anger and left it all on the court, averaging 33 points and 10 rebounds in the first seven games of the season. 
  • The 2017-18 Season — Giannis continued to lead the Bucks in 2017-18. He was again named an All-Star Game starter, collecting the second most votes of any player that year behind LeBron James. For the first time in his career, he was in the MVP discussion. But the Bucks were inconsistent. Head coach Jason Kidd was fired midway through the year. The Bucks made the playoffs but fell to the Boston Celtics in seven games in the opening round. It was their third opening round playoff loss in four seasons. Still, Milwaukee finished with a record over .500 for the second straight season, something the franchise hadn’t done since 2001. The Bucks hired head coach Mike Budenholzer shortly after the season ended. 

Ch. 12: Identity

  • Enduring Racism — From growing up in a primarily white country to moving to the United States to play professional basketball, Giannis has experienced a lot of racism in his life as a Black Greek. In Greece, he is now beloved. But before he reached stardom, and even today, there are a few racist people in Greece who try to make a case that he isn’t Greek despite being born and raised in Greece. These people try to say he’s Nigerian since he’s Black and is the son of two Nigerian parents.  

Ch. 13: Freak

  • The 2018-19 Season — The 2018-19 season was a good one for Giannis and the Bucks. This was the first year under new head coach Mike Budenholzer. It was also the team’s first year playing in a brand-new arena. Many fans call the arena “The House that Giannis Built” because it’s entirely possible that the Bucks would have moved out of Milwaukee if Giannis hadn’t landed there and become the superstar that he is today. Under Budenholzer, the whole team, including Giannis, shot more threes. They played faster. The Bucks finished with a 60-22 record, and Giannis again made the All-Star Game roster as a starter. The Bucks earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They eventually lost to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Ch. 14: MVP

  • MVP — Although they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, Giannis’s 2018-19 season was spectacular. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 6 assists per game and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player at age 24. He was the first Bucks player to win the MVP since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1974. Three days after receiving the MVP award, Giannis returned to Greece to launch his first signature shoe, the Nike Zoom Freak 1. He became the first international player to have his own Nike signature shoe. Giannis went on to win his second MVP award the following season (2020). 

Ch. 15: Home

  • 2019-20 Season — Giannis and the Bucks earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference again in the 2019-20 season, finishing with a record of 56-17. They eventually lost to Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in round two. Giannis won his second consecutive MVP award and earned Defensive Player of the Year. 
  • Staying in Milwaukee — Bucks fans around the country were very nervous heading into the summer of 2020. Giannis’s contract was up, and he had to decide if he wanted to resign with Milwaukee or leave for another team. He was one of the most highly sought-after free agents ever. He eventually decided to stay home, signing a $228 million extension to remain in Milwaukee, the largest contract in NBA history. His decision to stay with the Bucks overjoyed the people of Milwaukee. Many expected him to leave; the city has been scarred by losing and watching star players leave their franchise. Milwaukee is a small-market team, and the fans there were worried that Giannis would pack up and leave for a bigger city. But Giannis, who embraced the city from his first day there, loves Milwaukee and wanted to stay. He has become a hero in that city. 

Epilogue

  • 2020-21 Season: World Champions — Giannis led the Bucks to an NBA championship in 2021, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games in the NBA Finals. The Bucks were down 0-2 in the series before rallying to win the next four games. It was Milwaukee’s second NBA championship and its first in 50 years. Giannis delivered one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history in game six, scoring 50 points to go with 14 rebounds, and five blocks to clinch the title. He averaged 35 points for the series and was named NBA Finals MVP. 
  • Stay In the Present — It’s easy to slow yourself to spend most of your mental energy dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. It’s important to try to stay in the present moment as much as possible. Other than reflecting on lessons learned, the past is irrelevant. It’s done. It’s behind you. It’s out of your control. You have to move on to the “next play.” In many ways, the future is also out of your control. All you really have is the present moment. Focus on enjoying it and working hard toward your goals. Focus on what you can control and try to avoid setting expectations. You can’t control what other people think or say about you. Stay focused on the present moment. There’s so much to enjoy and be grateful for in this moment, right now. Giannis attributes a lot of his success to remaining humble and staying in the present moment. See the passage below.