Giannis’s brother recounts the hardships of his childhood: “no electricity or food”

Kostas Antetokounmpo reveals in an interview the hard life of his family

Kostas Antetokounmpo has given an interview to Down Town and Amanda Fountis in which he has revealed striking things about his childhood. The Panathinaikos center is now an elite player in European basketball and is on one of the teams called to fight for the Euroleague, but to get there he has had to fight a lot with his family and overcome complicated situations.

The big star of the family is without a doubt Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ franchise player and two-time NBA MVP. His brother Kostas also spoke about him in the interview and explained how they had to come together to get ahead together and now live comfortably as role models for many people.

ANTETOKOUNMPO FAMILY: FROM FOOTBALL TO BASKETBALL

Kostas tells how the Antetokounmpo family was linked to soccer because his father was a soccer player and, at first, he wanted his children to play the same sport that he played when he was young. He soon changed his mind and they switched to basketball: “at first we played soccer, but Thanasis tried basketball, he liked it and said we should start playing too. My dad didn’t like it because he was a soccer player but over time he changed.” of opinion”.

They have always been a very athletic family and that was evident in the Antetokounmpo home from a very young age: “sports have always been in our lives because our parents were athletes.” Kostas highlights that the family’s success has always been due to the close connection that existed between everyone: “we are all very united and we encourage each other to be better, not only as basketball players, but as people.”

THE ANTETOKOUNMPO: A VERY HARD CHILDHOOD

Now they are world leaders and elite players, but to get here they have had to go through very complicated situations and, above all, a childhood with a lot of misery: “What we went through as a family was not easy, the economic situation in which “we were, the fact that we had to change houses constantly, the fact that we sometimes had no electricity or food. It was difficult, but we were always united.”

Kostas is the youngest and he relied on his older brothers to overcome this family situation. He explains in the interview what he did when he was a child: “I went out with my brothers to sell things to help my family. It’s not something I forget.” This was one of the most complicated situations according to him: “The biggest difficulty was going out to sell things because you don’t know the income you will bring home. It is possible that one day you bring money and another day you bring nothing.”

THE FIGURE OF THE FATHER OF THE ANTETOKOUNMPO

As we have mentioned previously, the Antetokounmpo’s father was a soccer player and an important piece for the family. His advice and love for his children was key for them to reach the top of world basketball. Kostas remembers with longing the figure of his now deceased father: “His loss shook us a lot. We became more united as a family than we already were. When my father died I realized that this is the most important thing, life and having the opportunity to fight for what you want.

In the interview, Kostas also highlighted some of the phrases that his father told them as advice: “My father always told us: “Tomorrow is another day.” He told us before we went to bed and it was like a reset button. It’s like telling us that if your day today was bad, tomorrow will be another day that you will start from scratch and try again to have a better day.

KOSTAS ANTETOKOUNMPO TALKS ABOUT RACISM IN GREECE

It seems incredible that there continue to be racist episodes in sport and in society, but the fact is that they continue to occur. Kostas has suffered these despicable attacks in his own country and this is how he details them: “Yes, there have been occasions when I have experienced racist episodes. It hasn’t hurt me, but I felt a little strange when I was young, because you are born in Greece, you grow up in Greece and you go to a Greek school, you don’t see yourself as anything different. It didn’t hurt me, I just didn’t understand some of the comments.”