From 2013 to 2023, Giannis Antetokounmpo has worn the national emblem in six competitions. He actually only missed 2017 and 2023 due to injury. In this way he proved his love for Greece. And he will continue to be here honoring the country in which he grew up. Giannis is and feels Greek.

Does Giannis Antetokounmpo have to prove his love for Greece? Does he go through daily tests and not know it? Or he has to lie to the whole world just so that some people who probably forget his story and his journey, which began 28 years ago in the slums of Sepoli, are not misunderstood.

Giannis Antetokounmpo can neither hide nor be ashamed of his heritage. His parents came from Nigeria, they are Nigerian, his blood has a certain origin. Does anyone dispute that? So what is the reason for discussing something so obvious?

If he had said that he no longer has anything to do with Greece, that he doesn’t love Greece, that he doesn’t want to play basketball for our national team, then there should have been a storm of reactions and we should all have blamed him for what he did did said. But not for the obvious and self-evident.

He is a man with two homelands like thousands of Greeks

Giannis is a man of two homelands, like thousands of Greeks who have Greek blood and grew up in another country. He has never sworn off Greece, he has never said anything bad about the country he grew up in, he has his friends and he loves it.

Can you imagine if he said I have nothing to do with Nigeria? Should he say that my parents aren’t from there, that my blood is only Greek? Surely he wouldn’t be a liar?

So let us learn that language is always preferable to truth and that anyone who uses it should receive credit and not be blamed. Unless, of course, the truth is not liked, but only the satisfaction of a certain part of public opinion that has learned to simply comment, blame and wait in the corner to vent its anger.

Not because Giannis said he was (also) Nigerian, but because the problems in Greece are numerous and there is trouble for everyone and everything.

Giannis and Thanasis will never renounce Greece

It goes without saying that the entire Antetokounmpo family owes a lot to Greece. Contrary to those who say that the Greeks made family life difficult, the truth is that the majority of people stood by them even if they were not famous.

There are many people in basketball and in the society of Sepolia and Zografou who stood by them when they really didn’t have food or money for basic needs. EEC was at his side in the first steps, the mobilization of the basketball to get a pass – when the talent of Giannis and Thanasis could now be seen from afar – was huge.

That’s exactly why Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo will never give up Greece, no matter how far away their everyday lives are now. They love Greece, it is the country where they grew up, it is the passport that opened all doors for them.

But let’s not ask them to erase anything else in their lives, because it would be wrong for any Greek who grew up in another country to do so. They are proud to have Greek blood and say so at every opportunity without it diminishing the homeland in which they grew up.

So let’s look forward and not look for problems where there aren’t any. Giannis Antetokounmpo loves Greece, he will continue to play for the Greek national team as long as his commitments allow.

And he wants and will always try to be here

Unfortunately or fortunately, Giannis’ status escaped the Greek data. He’s not just a great basketball player, he’s a world sports superstar. He has a million-dollar contract, NBA teams will be at his feet if he decides to leave the Bucks, and his life will revolve around his enormous value.

This year it was impossible for him to play in the national team, he underwent knee surgery. He couldn’t play in 2017 because he was injured again. But for those who forget, he started training and also played in friendly matches. Until he passes out.

He wore the blue and white in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2022. This year, 2021, he was missing when he had commitments in the NBA playoffs, but it was humanly impossible to use him there. Last summer he even took part in two qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup. And he will do everything he can to be at the 2024 Pre-Olympic Games and the 2025 European Basketball Championship and hopefully the 2027 World Cup.

If he had broken away from Greece with his statements, it wouldn’t have mattered to him. And believe it, Giannis now has such a status that his career actually doesn’t change whether he plays for our national team or not. His power has escaped the Greek market.

In fact, he could face strife and suffering because of the millions at stake. But he wants and will always try to be here. Maybe because he feels that at the end of his career he also has to achieve great things for Greece. In one of his two home countries…