THE ART OF WINNING

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a huge NBA star who is determined to do the little things right.

There are some things that Giannis Antetokounmpo would rather not talk about.

For instance, the charismatic star with the Milwaukee Bucks isn’t particularly keen to discuss the individual honors he’s earned in nine NBA seasons. Which is surprising, since the cosmically versatile 7-foot-tall power forward has basically earned them all— he’s a two-time league MVP, NBA defensive player of the year, a seven-time all-star, the MVP of the NBA finals (in a series in which he led Milwaukee to its first championship in 50 years).

“I will think about my legacy more later, when I’m closer to stepping away from the game,” Antetokounmpo says, a few minutes after the Bucks notched a home win against Toronto. “When I have grandkids, I can have barbecue and talk about it all day. Right now, my longterm goal is to win another championship and otherwise I’m trying to remain in the present, to play with an edge and create more art.”

Indeed, there is an art to being Giannis—a flair for the extraordinary, an easygoing charisma that belies an obsessive work ethic. Oddly enough, Antetokounmpo is delighted to discuss his free- throw shooting, arguably one of the few aspects of his game that isn’t superhuman. He acknowledges the weakness and also how hard he works to get a little better at it. “I practice free throws every day—before games, after games, every time I’m in the gym,” he says, noting that when a championship was on the line—Game 6 of the 2021 NBA finals—he drained 17 of 19 free throws to close out the Phoenix Suns. “There was so much sweat in that moment,” he says with quiet gusto.

These days, Antetokounmpo carries himself with the effortless swagger of a certain future hall of famer, but he had to scrap to be here. Born and raised in Athens to Nigerian parents, he spent most of his childhood effectively stateless, with citizenship to no country. But he had a love and gift for basketball, and also his family’s support to pursue that passion. “The journey has been unbelievable,” he says. “My parents believed in my dream more than I did.” And in 2013, at the age of 18, he was rewarded with Greek citizenship and then a firstround draft pick to play with Milwaukee.

A seasoned veteran but still only 28 today, Antetokounmpo says he’s learned a lot about how to carry himself like a champion. Starting a family— he now has two young sons— has also impacted his outlook on his life and career. “I’m an easygoing guy and I used to just go with the flow, but now I see how I can be pulled in so many directions, and that can take away from what makes me great,” he says. “I made a decision two years ago that I would only do things that make be better or things that make me happy. So if something won’t make me better as a basketball player or a father or if it doesn’t bring joy to my life, I’m not doing it. I want to live every moment to the fullest.”

But beyond obsessively practicing free throws, how exactly can such a decorated athlete make himself better? Now this is something that Antetokounmpo is happy to talk about. “Every day I work extremely hard—to remain humble, to remain in the moment, to work on improving my skills, to go full speed all the time,” he says. “And then in games, from the first minute to the last, I trust that my instincts will take over and I’ll make as many good decisions as I can.”

The man beloved as the Greek Freak on multiple continents pauses, searching for the words to explain how a commitment to perfecting little things can have a big impact. “Doing these things doesn’t guarantee success,” Antetokounmpo says. “But they do give you more chances to win a championship.”