Rich Conversations: 016. Greek Philosopher Giannis Antetokounmpo
Show notes from episode 016 of Rich Conversations.
A Greek philosopher once said, “Life is easy. Know what you want and go get it.” Giannis Antetekounmpo.
Giannis is the reigning NBA MVP. He plays for my hometown team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
Those of you who have been around me in person have most likely experienced me gushing about him. I find so much inspiration in him, especially over the last two years.
On Monday I was at the game with my cousin and Giannis dropped 50 points against the Utah Jazz in a win. It was special. It was the third Bucks game I went to in a week, including one here in Chicago. Whenever I get a chance, I’m going to go because I’m witnessing something that transcends basketball.
I send out an email newsletter every week. And a couple weeks ago I sent one out about basketball being a conduit for something greater. One of my top-10 favorite books of all-time is Phil Jackson’s Sacred Hoops. Phil Jackson coached his teams to 11 NBA titles – six with the Bulls and five with the Lakers. Sure, he coached Michael Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq, but none of those players won a championship before Phil. Phil considers himself a Zen Christian. He’s from Montana and he also found a lot of inspiration from the Lakota Native American tribe. He brought a spirituality to basketball.
What people don’t realize is that the key to success in basketball is not about basketball. And this can be applied to whatever you do for work in life. It’s about an ultimate goal – a shared goal among a community of people – and assigning roles to each person in accordance to their greatest strengths. Everybody’s job is important and everybody has to do their job. If everyone believes and wants to achieve this shared goal, you’ll need to be okay with making sacrifices. Creating a sense of oneness.
So when Phil Jackson takes over the Bulls in the ‘90s, he introduces mindfulness and meditation to the team. Those practices are much more commonplace in culture, but not then. The NBA in the 1990’s was about physical strength and toughness. There was a macho-sim. And Phil was like, “basketball is more of a dance. And you should not be angry at your enemy, but respect them and love the competition.” (Sounds very Christian like). Can you imagine the first time Phil got these players to try and meditate? “Alright guys, I just want you to sit still and breath. Relax.” It should be mentioned, especially with Michael Jordan, their openness to trying something new that would allow them to be better.
He had each player visualize a safe comfortable place in their lives. During timeouts when the games were intense and chaotic, he’d spend the timeout just having the players visualize that same place. He was also notorious for not calling timeouts because he wanted the players to figure it out for themselves. They needed to all be thinking together. One spirit.
Anyways, returning to Giannis, back in the summer of 2013. I was visiting home in Wisconsin. I was downstairs on the family computer and my little brother came down and told me the Bucks drafted a guy from Greece. They’re comparing his potential to Kevin Durant. (pfft). Alright.
At that time, the only foreign-born star in the NBA was Dirk Nowitzki. It’s a very rare thing.
But Giannis is a different guy.
I recommend watching the 60 Minutes feature on him or TNT’s Finding Giannis to learn more about him. His parents moved from Nigeria to Greece with no papers. They changed their names to Greek name to assimilate better. When Giannis was a teenager, he’d be out on the streets selling trinkets like watches and glasses to make money to help support his family.
He was tall so he started playing basketball. He and his brother played on a team in a Greek league, which would be the equivalent to like a YMCA rec team. His brother and him didn’t play at the same time because they shared the same shoes. An agent saw the potential in Giannis focused on getting him drafted in the NBA. He was selected 15th in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis is all about family and loyalty. It was just him in America. The only way to get his family to the states was to get really good at basketball. He’d go to the gym all the time. He’d sleep in the gym because he didn’t see the point of going back to his place because his family wasn’t there. He has to get better. After getting their visas denied twice, his parents came over.
He went from getting drafted, to making the rotation, to becoming a starter, to becoming an all-star, to becoming the MVP, to-soon-becoming an NBA champion. “Life is easy. Know what you want and go get it.” Right?
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And this whole time, my brother and I followed closely. We’ve gone to a number of games over the past years, and we’d see Giannis’s progress and growth. We’ve seen him also become a stronger leader. I’d come up and visit home to Wisconsin and we’d just shoot hoops in the barnyard and talk NBA. We love the NBA. It’s a global sport that’s perfectly positioned in the social media era, with highlights and a platform for the game’s personalities.
Sports can teach you to be an optimist. Fans convince themselves, “Well if this happens, or if this player does this…” Last season was the manifestation of that optimism. We moved to a new arena, hired a legit coach, and we have to imagine Giannis will go up another level again. Bam. Done.
The best player in the NBA – in the world – plays for my team. I’m so grateful. It’s incredible. Every NBA fan wishes to be in the situation I’m in. I don’t take it for granted. I go up to Wisconsin to see him play whenever I can. A global superstar plays 25 minutes from my hometown of Raymond. It’d be like Kendrick Lamar goes on tour all over the country and then plays in your hometown 40+ times a year. Why would you not go? I don’t get it. Every time I watch him I feel more inspired.
It makes me reflect more on work ethic and immigrants. At the same age when Giannis was a teenager selling trinkets on the streets of Athens, his American peers were in the AAU program. If you’re good at basketball in America at an early age, you often get special treatment. You get lots of attention and access to plenty of resources to improve. Giannis had determination and goals that elevated beyond hoops.
The Bucks lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last season after leading 2-0. Personally, I think it’s such a blessing for Giannis. He got far and fell short. National Media and outside basketball fans will discuss the need for him to leave and play with more talented teammates. I think that’s so lame. It’s soft. It’s American entitlement and Millennial culture. In Greek mythology, the hero is tested, is challenged, and they have to demonstrate strength and perseverance. When things get hard, you don’t just give up. And you don’t just change things just to change things. There’s something about going through a trial with a group of people, learning from it, and trying again. Chemistry is so important. That oneness that Phil Jackson taught is so rare in the NBA –you may even say in life.
People think something is impossible. And then someone does it and it’s not.
During the 2013, Giannis’s potential was compared to Kevin Durant. In my mind, Giannis is the anti-Kevin Durant. I don’t know Kevin, but it just seems like he’s searching for something. A happiness perhaps. I think he encapsulates American Millennials. He seems to care a lot about what people think of him – so much so that he had a burner Twitter account to interact with fans hating on him. The 24 hour sports media obsesses and judges players worth based on championship rings, so KD joined the Warriors and won two. Now he’s playing for Brooklyn. On this podcast, I ask people where they go when they need a mental escape. Some have said, “Inside.” In my experience, it’s the only question that has a right answer.
There was a time in my life, when I thought about moving away from Chicago. I thought I should experience something different just to experience it. I think a lot of Millennials feel that. I think today, social media exposes us to so many other lives and experiences that it creates a wanting inside us. A guilt. That we’d be happier in another situation. It’s cancerous. Once you go from wanting to appreciating what you have, that’s when you’ll notice transformative change in your life. Focus on being grateful and you’ll notice beauty and life all around you.
I’m so excited to continuing following Giannis. I feel so proud. It’s like watching a little brother come into his own as a man and leader. His work ethic and actions have caught the world’s attention and have focused them on my home state of Wisconsin. In the playoffs, I sat next to a couple from Greece. On Monday, I met two young women from Belgium and the Nederland’s. Basketball and Giannis are bringing the world together, spreading positivity and emphasizing collaboration between different types of people. I think that’s really important and it inspired me to continue doing my part for my own community.
So if you ever want to go to a Bucks game, let me know. We can talk about so much more than basketball.
Thanks for listening and reading.
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