48 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
further notice because of the coronavirus). “But I’m hopeful
to be in this industry, so I can’t be starstruck anymore.
When I see them now, I’ve got to learn.”
“Family business?” says Thanasis, in another gym, on
another gunmetal-gray winter day in Wisconsin. “I’ve
honestly never heard that about us and basketball.” He
smiles and considers the phrase. “No, I’d say sports is the
family business.” In Nigeria, their mother, Veronica, was a
high jumper, and father, Charles, played soccer. He died of
a heart attack in 2017, in Milwaukee, at age 53. In tribute,
Alex wore a custom pair of Nike Freak 1s—Giannis’s sig-
nature shoe, and the best-selling signature launch in the
shoe giant’s giant history. They were em-
blazoned with a bit of wisdom passed
down by Charles: always want more
but never be greedy.
These days, the phrase provides
some solace in Milwaukee. Though
Christian Yelich, the Brewers’ star out-
fielder, just signed a nine-year extension
to stick around, Giannis can become a free
agent after next season and could conceiv-
ably leave town for sunnier climes, if not
greener pastures. (In the arcane economy
of the NBA, the Bucks can still pay
Giannis more than any other suitor.) He is
in the third year of a four-year, $100 mil-
lion deal and could sign an extension as
early as this summer. And for the far-flung
Antetokounmpo brothers—born in Greece
to Nigerian parents—the family home has
become this unlikely locale of Friday fish
fries and drink wisconsinbly T-shirts.
“For sure, for sure,” says Thanasis, stand-
ing beneath the Greek and Nigerian and
American flags suspended from the raf-
ters in the Bucks’ glittering new practice
facility. “Home is where your family is.
And my mom and my brothers are here.”
Thanasis was drafted by the Knicks
in 2014 and played briefly for them,
as well as in Europe and the G League
before signing a two-year contract worth
$3.2 million with the Bucks last July. On
arriving in America, he too was amused
by the size and scope of the supermarkets. “Like a shop-
ping mall, you can get anything,” he says, and it’s unclear
whether he’s talking about Pick ’n Save or America itself.
Like Charles, he guards against greed and self-aggrandize-
ment. “That mostly has to do with the way we grew up, has
to do with our culture,” he says. “Being from an African home
and a Greek home, it’s different, in a good way. Obviously,
everybody likes nice stuff, everybody wants to look good or
whatever. The thing is”—he lowers his voice, as if sharing a
confidence—“you don’t really need to get caught up in this.”
The Antetokounmpos have not succumbed to the under-tow of celebrity that trails Giannis. And despite its occasional
efforts at reinvention, including the sign at the airport wel-
coming visitors to “America’s Third Coast,” Milwaukee is
not known for self-promotion, either.
Two days after the NBA suspended its season, Giannis
and his family pledged $100,000 to the workers at Fiserv
Forum. And when out and about, the Antetokounmpos make
no effort to keep their fellow citizens at arm’s length. “No,
no,” says Thanasis, wearing a pained expression. “Why?
It’s nice to have people support you.” They’re approachable,
selfless with selfies, and when they cannot be—“like at the
movies,” says Thanasis, when people want a picture in thedark—they tell their admirers they’ll catch them next time.
“I think the people are [respectful] because they know
we’re just one big family,” says Thanasis. “We’re open and not
like this”—he holds his arms out as if keeping a mob at bay—
“so they don’t feel like, Oh, my god, I’m not gonna see them
again. You’ll see us again. We’re a big family, Milwaukee.”IN MILWAUKEE, YOU
see Giannis everywhere. He’s on that enormous banner
stretched across the Fiserv Forum parking garage down-
town, extending his wingspan—7' 3" in real life—as if tryingGA
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GREEK REVIVAL
Giannis and Thanasis posed pregame with thousands of Bucks
fans at Greek Night in January (above), while Alex (above
right, fourth from left) was recently joined at Dominican High
by ( from left) Giannis, Kostas, Veronica and Thanasis.
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