Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed he used to have a different name

May 2024 · 2 minute read

Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed he used to have a different surname. And just a bit of a spoiler, it was way easier to pronounce than Antetokounmpo.

Before Giannis turned into a freak of nature for the Milwaukee Bucks with two regular season MVPs, an NBA championship, Defensive Player of the Year award, among other awards and accolades, nobody ever bothered to pronounce his last name (Antetokounmpo). It was either Giannis or the Greek Freak, nothing in between. Even today, some analysts still have trouble saying his name. But would that have all changed if he used his real name when he made the NBA? I'm willing to bet not a lot of people actually know that Giannis' full name is Giannis Sina Ugo Adetokunbo.

Giannis' parents were both of Nigerian descent and immigrated to Greece in hopes of a better life. Things looked bleak early on with Giannis and his brothers working odd jobs to earn a living, but when he met coach Spiros Velliniates, Giannis' life changed forever. As Giannis made strides in his basketball career, he decided to take a chance on the 2013 NBA draft. His only problem was, he needed official documentation to get there. Giannis revealed on Serge Ibaka's podcast ‘How Hungry Are You?‘ that when he applied for a Greek passport, the government had to change his name by the Greek alphabet.

Here's how Giannis explained the name change:

“So, in the D they put NT, and then in the B, they put MP. When you get a contract in the NBA, they have to put your last name according to exactly how it is on your passport,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said to Serge since D and B weren't in the Greek alphabet.

The craziest part is, this isn't the first time an NBA player had to ‘Greekify' his name. Kurt Rambis was also of Greek heritage and changed his name to ‘Kyriakos Rambidis'. But since he also had an American passport, he stuck with Rambis when he made the NBA.

The name change did cause Giannis to add three letters to his name. But with the way he dominates the game, we're sure everyone would learn to say his name eventually, whatever the spelling may be.

Giannis Used To Have A DIFFERENT Name!? 😵 | Clutch #Shorts – YouTube

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