Nepotism is always a bit of a hot button, even within the NBA. For instance, Bronny James, LeBron James’ son, took one of just 450 spots in the National Basketball Association when he was snagged by the Los Angeles Lakers at the 2024 NBA Draft in late June. Despite being assigned to the G League for his first year, he’s still getting paid a reported US$7.
9 million for four years as No 55 pick in the draft. And many have speculated that the Lakers selected him to appease his father, and for the chance to make history with the first father-and-son duo to play together for the same team. James’ drafting quickly got fans talking about another example of nepotism within the league: Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019, joining his brother, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo .
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Thanasis Antetokounmpo and his brother Giannis Antetokounmpo both play for the Milwaukee Bucks. Photo: thanasis_ante/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/53a62c0d-7d96-42b9-a481-f13427b64751_a26c17fe.jpg"} Thanasis Antetokounmpo and his brother Giannis Antetokounmpo both play for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Photo: thanasis_ante/Instagram The nepotism was, to some, so blatant that it prompted NBA legend and sports commentator Charles Barkley to say during the 2022 All-Star Game, “[Thanasis] right here has the best job security in the history of civilisation ...
that boy’s always going to have a job as long as his brother is in demand.” {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"“Highs and lows, we welcome it all!” Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court.
Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/44012ae9-3fc9-4135-ae3d-8a5beaad1c94_a26c17fe.
jpg"} “Highs and lows, we welcome it all!” Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram Noting the two brothers’ bond, many suspected that the Milwaukee Bucks signed Thanasis to a US$2 million-a-year contract to keep in Giannis’ good graces. Meanwhile, Thanasis has said in interviews that, more than anything, he wanted to play in the US to be there to support his brother while the rest of their family remains in Greece.
Nevertheless, most see this as the Bucks’ bargaining chip to keep the better of the two brothers on the team while Giannis negotiates between contracts. Here’s what you need to know about the older Antetokounmpo brother, Thanasis. What is Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s background? {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"When Thanasis Antetokounmpo joined the Milwaukee Bucks, he and Giannis became the second pair of brothers in the history of the NBA to play on the same team. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/8b1e2422-36b8-4edf-bd21-c70853002e25_d7491f3d.jpg"} When Thanasis Antetokounmpo joined the Milwaukee Bucks, he and Giannis became the second pair of brothers in the history of the NBA to play on the same team. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram Born to Nigerian parents who immigrated to Greece, Giannis and Thanasis are two of five brothers.
The others are Kostas and Alex, who are also professional basketball players, and Francis, who is a musician. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"“It feels different when you come from zero,” Giannis Antetokounmpo captioned this photo.
Photo: @giannis_an34/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/2f3c75be-e698-412d-ab09-04bb4e2b2607_7390c88c.
jpg"} “It feels different when you come from zero,” Giannis Antetokounmpo captioned this photo. Photo: @giannis_an34/Instagram The four brothers in sports all achieved success in major league basketball at home in Greece, but Giannis was the first to get drafted into the NBA in 2013. Thanasis also entered the draft that same year, but pulled out at the last second to continue playing for the EFAO Zografou B.
C. (aka Filathlitikos), a professional basketball club based in Zografou, Athens. The Antetokounmpo brothers’ career before the NBA {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Thanasis Antetokounmpo looks sharp on and off the court. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/5a75436a-4e46-4107-84d6-5787e2b290cd_f0b582eb.jpg"} Thanasis Antetokounmpo looks sharp on and off the court. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram Later on, in 2013, Thanasis was drafted by the NBA and debuted in the Development League with the Delaware 87ers.
A year following Giannis’ rookie season, Thanasis was drafted by the New York Knicks as the 52nd pick of the year and joined the Summer League. During this period, he was averaging just three points per game. But his stats improved when he went back to playing in the D League for the NBA-affiliate team Westchester Knicks, and he averaged 13.
9 points in 47 games. This served as more proof that Thanasis perhaps wasn’t quite ready to compete in the major league. {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Thanasis Antetokounmpo has played for both European and American teams. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.i-scmp.
com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/30f127f8-864c-49e5-b9ce-64beb2fe4d64_8a66ae79.jpg"} Thanasis Antetokounmpo has played for both European and American teams. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram With that, Thanasis returned to Europe in 2016 to play for the MoraBanc Andorra of the Liga ACB, the Spanish basketball league system’s top professional basketball division.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Thanasis Antetokounmpo is often compared to his brother Giannis – who is considered the better player of the two. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/50c11ca5-f52b-4ba7-8a11-bbc7286f2fc4_8a66ae79.jpg"} Thanasis Antetokounmpo is often compared to his brother Giannis – who is considered the better player of the two.
Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram After Andorra, Thanasis went home to Greece and played for Panathinaikos in Greece’s professional major league between 2017 and 2019. Meanwhile, in the US, Giannis had proven himself to be a powerhouse in the NBA , taking home the MVP title for the 2018-2019 season. That became a defining moment in the Antetokounmpo brothers’ nepotism narrative.
In the season following Giannis’ MVP win, which led to him signing an extension with the team at US$228 million for five years, Thanasis was drafted to the Bucks on a two-year US$3.15 million contract. And the two became the second pair of brothers in the history of the NBA to play on the same team.
The NBA, brand endorsements – and the nepotism connection {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"“A goal is a dream with a finish line,” Thanasis Antetokounmpo captioned this post. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/9e598064-ca40-4285-bca9-7e58ddf891a1_7390c88c.jpg"} “A goal is a dream with a finish line,” Thanasis Antetokounmpo captioned this post.
Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram Thanasis’ contributions to the Bucks in terms of points scored is minimal – averaging just 2.8 points that season. However, perhaps the team saw his value in bringing confidence and support to Giannis, who nabbed a second consecutive MVP title in the following season.
For many though, it seemed Thanasis hadn’t earned his spot on the team based on merit. And in the 2023-24 season, the 31-year-old averaged just 4.6 minutes per game, with a declining 0.
9-point average across 34 games. On top of that, Giannis has made it no secret that his brother factors heavily into his own career decisions. In a recent interview, Giannis, 29, shared he’s picked a deal with Nike over Adidas because the latter didn’t want to sign Thanasis as well.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"The Antetokounmpo brothers in Guangzhou, China. Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram","url":"https://cdn.
i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/16/f7607030-d51c-4013-8113-2b25a9cff065_d7491f3d.jpg"} The Antetokounmpo brothers in Guangzhou, China.
Photo: @thanasis_ante43/Instagram Giannis has renewed his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks at more than US$175 million for three years, but Thanasis is a free agent this summer – with no word yet on whether the team will renew his contract. Still, the question of nepotism continues to swirl around the Antetokounmpos, as Alex was also briefly signed to the Bucks in 2023 – though he was almost just as quickly dismissed and waived on the same day. Before that, he was with the Sacramento Kings for a season in the Summer League following the 2021 draft, and then the Toronto Raptors to play as an affiliate player.
If the Bucks’ decision not to keep Alex on its roster is any indication, it could mean the team is putting more serious thought into whether they can bring on a more valuable player to fill Thanasis’ spot on the team. LeBron James’ son, Bronny James, caused a stir when the Los Angeles Lakers snagged him in the 2024 NBA Draft – now they could make history as the first father-and-son duo playing on the same team Giannis picked a deal with Nike over Adidas because the latter didn’t want to work with Thanasis too; sports commentator Charles Barkley even called out the ‘nepotism’ during an All-Star Game.
