Giannis & his brothers spent hours as kids selling watches & CDs in the streets of Athens, Greece just to help the family put food on the table😍😍

Every journey has a starting point and great journeys always start from hardships. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a typical example of overcoming difficulties to achieve admirable success in the NBA.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the second child in a family of four. After leaving his eldest son Thanasis with his grandparents in Nigeria, his parents immigrated to Greece. It was also in Greece that little Giannis was born. However, he was not granted Greek citizenship due to the law there.

For the first 18 years of his life, Giannis was completely stateless. It was not until he turned 18 that he officially became a Greek citizen, and his parents also changed their son's last name from Adetokunbo to Antetokounmpo in Greek.

Growing up in the Sepolia suburb of the capital Athens, life was very difficult for Giannis' family. His parents had a hard time finding stable jobs to support the family. His father worked as a repairman and his mother worked as a maid for other families.

Therefore, Giannis had to work hard from a young age to earn a living for his parents. Giannis's childhood was spent many days in the rain and sun selling watches, sunglasses and handbags on the sidewalks of Athens.

However, basketball was what made Giannis' life less difficult. When he reunited with his brother Thanasis, the two immediately found love for the orange ball. Giannis once told fans that he and his brother often played basketball on an empty stomach. All of these efforts laid the foundation for his future success.

In 2009, he applied for the youth team of the local club Filathlitikos. From there, Giannis Antetokounmpo began to gradually rise to the main team in the third and second divisions of Greece in 2012. The match that made him start to attract the attention of player scouts when he scored up to 50 points in a match.

That December, he got closer to his dream of becoming a professional player. The Spanish professional team Zaragoza was the team that got the signature of the Greek demigod, although Barcelona also made an offer for him. Giannis's first professional contract worth 4 million Euros over four years really overwhelmed the young man at that time. Little did he know that the future ahead of him was much brighter.

Just one year later, Giannis entered the 2013 NBA Draft. The Milwaukee Bucks were lucky enough to have him as the 15th pick. In just 7 years, Giannis has gone from a talented player to a top superstar with two consecutive MVP titles (2019 and 2020).

Before signing the latest supermax contract worth $228.2 million, his total assets from salary and shoe contract with Nike were $60 million (according to IBT). From a street vendor to a millionaire, it was a difficult but beautiful journey.

Giannis's story is typical of a hardworking player who overcame difficulties. Most people in Giannis's situation would fall into temptation. But with his passion for basketball and his love for his family, he was strong enough to become a role model for many people to follow.