Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks Rookie, Goes From Undocumented Youth To The NBA

Milwaukee Bucks fans have liked what they've seen from 19-year-old rookie phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo so far this year - a rare ray of hope for the 5-19 squad - and they're about to see a lot more. Antetokounmpo, a beanpole who's 6'9 and still growing, has gotten 18.2 minutes per game this year, but as of Wednesday, he's been moved up into the starting slot, according to CBS Sports. As OnMilwaukee.com reported in October, Antetokounmpo's journey to the NBA has been an unusually bumpy one.

Born in Greece to Nigerian parents, the site writes, Giannis and his three brothers had uncertain childhoods and adolescences, as neither they nor their parents had legal status - unlike American law, Greek law doesn't automatically afford citizenship to those born on Greek soil. As children, the boys sold sunglasses, hats and bags on the street while their mother babysat and their father worked as a handyman, and when Giannis and his brother Thanasis - who plays now in a pro Greek league - first started playing basketball, they shared a pair of sneakers.

"They wanted a better future and a better life," Giannis told the site, talking about his parents. "They say, to come to Greece and have a better life. Even coming to Greece, they didn't have a better life. Life was still difficult. My mother is 50 years old. And my father, too. For 50 years old, life was difficult for them."He added, "For 20 years they were illegal. It's very hard to live for 20 years without papers. Very, very hard. You have children and you have to go out and work without papers. At any moment, the cops can stop you and say come over here and let me send you back to your country."

Giannis and Thanasis finally got Greek citizenship on May 9^th, and Giannis was drafted by the Bucks in late June to play ball in the US. Even after being named to the Greek national team, though, the site writes that he saw himself becoming the object of anti-immigrant bile when the leader of the fascist Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, likened Giannis to a "chimpanzee" in a television interview and said he should have been arrested and deported.

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