Giannis Antetokounmpo’s story is one of the ages. He came from Nigerian ascent and had to share one pair of shoes with his brothers, and now he’s one of the faces of the NBA, and one of the greatest players in Milwaukee Bucks history.
Once considered and unknown prospect and a raw player who could’ve been taken in the second round of the NBA Draft, there’s not a basketball fan on Earth who doesn’t know ‘The Greek Freak’s’ name right now.
However, it seems like things could’ve and should’ve been a whole lot different, as his last name wasn’t even Antetokounmpo originally. Instead, he had to change it to get his Greek passport.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Had To Change His Last Name
“When you take another country’s passport, you’re name has to be spelled with their alphabet,” Giannis told fomer teammateSerge Ibaka on his ‘How Hungry Are You’ internet show. “So in the D, they put NT, and in the B, they put MP. So it’s pronounced Antetokounmpo in the Greek way.”
“But the Nigerian way, the way I knew my name growing up was Adetokunbo. But you know when you get the Greek passport, then you get the contract with the NBA, they have to put your last name exactly how it is in your passport on the back of your jersey,” Giannis explained.
So, it seems like Shaquille O’Neal didn’t need to go through all he went through to learn how to pronounce Antetokounmpo’s last name. It should’ve been easier all along, but hey, this kind of thing happens.
Regardless of how you spell it, Giannis has become one of the most popular faces in sports as of now. But it still must be a little crazy to watch his last name spelled differently on those thousands of jerseys he’s sold.