Once again in the race for the MVP trophy this season and on a mission to bring another title to Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo seems more indestructible every year. But if he is today in his prime as a basketball player and more than ever serene about his status as an orange ball superstar, this has not always been the case. Three years ago, the Greek Freak thought of stopping everything…
We are in December 2020.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is then the reigning double MVP, and has just signed a record contract extension with the Bucks for $228 million over five years. Even if at the time he was not yet the NBA champion he became in 2021, the Greek Freak seems to have everything going for him: immense talent, the admiration of many fans, a very well filled bank account , and all the perks that come with NBA superstar status.
And yet.
“In 2020, I was ready to quit basketball. I spoke about it – yes – with the front office. Of course, everyone was looking at me like I was crazy. ‘You just signed the biggest contract in history and you’re ready to call it quits and drop all that money?’”
Yes, you read that right, Giannis Antetokounmpo considered retirement three years ago when he was on the rise.
Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals he almost retired in 2020
“In 2020, I was ready to walk away from the game. I had that conversation – yes – with the front office.”
(Via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) pic.twitter.com/QojqmAei2t
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) April 12, 2023
Said like that, it may surprise some, and surprise many others. But being an NBA superstar doesn’t just bring benefits. It also brings its share of challenges, especially for a personality like Giannis who doesn’t like to evolve too much under the spotlights. “At the end of my career, I want to be like Tim Duncan and disappear” declared in particular the Freak a few months ago. That is to say.
Unlike a LeBron James who has been in the spotlight since he was 15, the Freak only had two years of basketball behind him at the same age and didn’t really seem destined to become one of the best players in the world. Having grown up in poverty near Athens (Greece) and without papers until he was 18, the Freak arrived in the NBA with intriguing potential but above all a large dose of mystery around him. As a reminder, he was only selected 15th in the 2013 Draft. It was only then that he rose through the ranks one after the other (MIP, All-Star, All-NBA, MVP) to establish himself among the elite of NBA players. A spectacular ascent, somewhat unexpected too, which brought a large dose of pressure and obligations.
“Everyone is looking at me. It doesn’t matter where I am. I don’t think I have time to cut myself off from all that, so I can really be myself.”
– Giannis
To be at the same time one of the best players in the world, the face of the Milwaukee Bucks but also of the Greek national team, as well as one of the heads of the gondola of Nike, necessarily at some point it can weigh. And clearly, that weighed on Giannis, especially at a time marked by a difficult global contextbetween health crisis and social crisis.
In December 2020, Antetokounmpo was just emerging from Orlando’s anti-COVID bubble, in which his Bucks were eliminated in the second round of the Playoffs, but where they especially marked the NBA by launching a boycott after the Jacob Blake affair. , whose assault sparked riots in Kenosha (a town 45 minutes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin) in response to police violence inflicted on African-Americans. This whole mix has got Giannis seriously thinking about his future.
“If something doesn’t make me happy, I don’t do it. I do not want to. I prefer to stay at home, with my children, my family, and try to be happy. […]
I don’t care about money. What matters is happiness. I am a cheerful person. My father had nothing but us. And he was the happiest of men. He had a wonderful family, but nothing else. Everything else means nothing to me.”
His father Charles, whom Giannis suddenly lost in 2017 to a heart attack, will forever be his greatest source of inspiration. And if there’s one thing his dad probably would have told him if he’d been around during that tough time, it’s “son, we have to move on”.
So the Freak went ahead. How ? By going to see a psychologist to be able to put words on his emotions, and try to find the best way to manage them in a constructive way. He also spoke with Kevin Love, who came out publicly about his anxiety issues in 2018 shortly after DeMar DeRozan shared his battle with depression. An openness to others that allowed him to bounce back mentally.
“I started talking about it with a psychologist, and it helped me a lot. Not only to better manage my status as a basketball player, but also to become a better partner, a better father, a better brother, a better son. A better person. To not close myself off, to be able to share what I feel. At one point, I was trying to escape everyone. But I’m not that kind of person.”
Since then, Giannis Antetokounmpo has regained his smile and his balance. The pressure and expectations are obviously still there but the Greek Freak has learned to deal with that. And today, it is he who wants to create new ways to do advance the discussion on mental health. This is how, through his foundation, the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation, Giannis pays particular attention to this subject, which is sometimes still considered taboo.
Giannis’ foundation announces he will commit $1M to mental health services in Milwaukee, via @DrakeBentleyMJS.
Incredible. pic.twitter.com/f1NAvvpunY
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 1, 2023
Whether through a million dollar donation or his own experience that he just shared, Giannis knows he has the power to inspire and help those going through dark times. Of course, very few people know what it means to be Giannis Antetokounmpo every day, but many more face mental health issues of various kinds. And these can now take the Greek Freak as a model in order to take the plunge to share their inner troubles.
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Source texte : Milwaukee Journal Sentinel