Nigerian, Giannis Antetokounmpo Voted NBA 2018/19 Season Most Valuable Player

Giannis Antetokounmpo who is a Greece and Nigerian Basketball star has been named as the Most Valuable Player in the 2018/19 NBA season. The 24-year-old who plays for Milwaukee Bucks was impressive throughout the season for his club and received 78 of the 101 possible first-place votes. Giannis Antetokounmpo is now the youngest MVP in eight years in the NBA history as he defeated last year's winner James Harden to the award.

James Harden and Giannis slugging it out

And after receiving the award in front of crowd, Giannis paid an emotional tribute to his late dad who migrated to Greece from Lagos in 1980s and died in 2017. "I want to thank my dad. Obviously, my dad is not here with me. "Two years ago, I had a goal in my head that I was going to be the best player in the league and do whatever it takes to help my team win, and I'm going to win everything. "Every day I step on the floor, I always think of my dad and that motivates me and pushes me to play harder and move forward,'' he told the crowd in California according to BBC. Giannis

Antetokounmpo grew up with three of his four brothers in the working-class district of Sepolia on the outskirts of Athens as children to a first-generation Nigerian immigrant couple. In 2007, he followed his father’s advice and began to play basketball. And it didn’t take long before he became one of the rising stars of the third division of Filathlitikos in the Zografou neighborhood.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's parents Charles and Veronica Adetokunbo are Yoruba and Igbo respectively 

Even though he grew up in Greece, the basketball star said he was brought up in the Nigerian way. 

“I grew up in a Nigerian home,” the three-time All-Star said. “Obviously, I was born in Greece and went to school in Greece. But at the end of the day when I go home, there is no Greek culture. It’s straight-up Nigerian culture. It’s about discipline, it’s about respecting your elders, having morals,” he said.

The mystery around his surname, originally Adetokunbo became Antetokounmpo after a misspelling in his Greek passport.