Greek basketball star, Giannis Antetokounmpo is set to become the first black athlete to bear the flag for Greece at the Olympics.
The two-time NBA MVP will carry the flag alongside race walker, Antigoni Ntrismpioti in Paris on July 26th 2024. The Greek men’s basketball team qualified for its first Olympic Games since 2008 by defeating Croatia in front of a home crowd in Piraeus on Sunday. After the game, the 29-year-old Antetokounmpo, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013 and led them to the 2021 NBA title, was in tears. “It’s an incredible feeling,” he said. “Since I was a kid I always wanted to play in the Olympic Games.”
Antetokounmpo’s journey to becoming Greece’s Olympic flagbearer has not been easy. His parents emigrated to Greece from Nigeria, and for the first 18 years of his life, he was effectively stateless, having no papers from either Greece or Nigeria. He was eventually granted Greek citizenship in May 2013, less than two months before the NBA draft.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Antetokounmpo spoke about his childhood. “I used to sell things since I can remember, since I was six or seven years old. I was always out trying to help my mom and dad by selling watches, glasses, CDs, DVDs, and everything I could find. I did that until I turned 17 because I had no other choice. When I was selling all those things, I was the best seller.”
Despite his success in the US, Antetokounmpo has encountered racism at home. In a 2020 TNT documentary, he stated, “Greece is a country of white people; life can be difficult for someone with my skin color or of another nationality. You go to a lot of neighborhoods, and you face a lot of racism.” His comments led to backlash from some in Greece, including Konstantinos Kalemis, a former coordinator for refugee education who used racial slurs against him and was subsequently fired. Antetokounmpo has also faced discrimination from government officials, such as Adonis Georgiadis, the current health minister, who repeatedly mispronounced his name and falsely claimed he was born in Africa.
Antetokounmpo will be among the first athletes to open the Games, as Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, traditionally leads the parade. Spyros Kapralos, president of the Greek Olympic Committee, said there was “unanimity” in the decision for Antetokounmpo to carry the flag in Paris. He added that both flagbearers will “lift our country high.”
Although Antetokounmpo hasn’t publicly commented yet, he posted a video to X showing highlights from the qualifying campaign with the word “Greece.
