“I want to be like Kevin Durant!”: When Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed who his idol in the NBA was during the 2013 pre-draft interview

A look back at Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s pre-draft interview gives fans an idea of just how humble his beginnings were

 

The journey and story of Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the greatest in NBA history, perhaps even the greatest ever.

The child that sold watches and other accessories on the side of Greek roads is now a 2-time MVP, a Defensive player of the year, a Finals MVP, and of course, an NBA champion. Truly, as incredible as they could possibly come.

Despite all his greatness today though, the Greek Freak had nearly no interest coming his way ahead of the 2013 NBA Draft. Given that he had played in the second division of Greece, hardly any high-quality footage of the player was available at the time. And hence, let’s just say the mystery was a bit too strong with this one.

During his pre-draft process though, he was interviewed about his aspirations and just where he wants to go. And after the Greek Freak finally won a ring, we felt it would be a good time to revisit the video of the child with starry eyes and mere dreams of the NBA.

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“I want to be NBA player”: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s hallowed pre-draft interview

Giannis Antetokounmpo was picked 15^th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA draft.

Yep. A future all-time great, and he wasn’t even a lottery pick.

To be fair to NBA franchises though, as a prospect, he was so raw that it was tough to make out just who he’d become. Still, teams should’ve seen his determination to get better. In fact, you can even see it in his pre-draft interview. Take a look at the clip in the tweet below.

“I can do everything on the court… I like @MagicJohnson + @KDTrey5“

~ With @Giannis_An34 signing his extension for the full 5YR, $228M super max, via @wojespn, here’s a look back at @DraftExpress‘ interview with him as he was emerging in the 2nd division in #Greece in Feb, 2013 pic.twitter.com/1m1rv0f3yz

— DraftExpressContent (@DXContent) December 16, 2020

Man, Giannis looks a bit too different for our liking now. It’s not even like he grew a beard. The man literally gained over 70 pounds of pure muscle.

That aside though, the Greek Freak has indeed come a long way since being the skinny kid out of Greece. And with the player already winning his first ring at just 26-years-old, we can’t wait to see what the future holds for his career.

Also Read: Jayson Tatum recalls his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment on Knuckleheads Podcast