Masai Ujiri: Giannis is not Greek, he's Nigerian

[Coach Carter]

Bring him home Masai.

Home? Giannis is not Canadian

Also masai has helped other African players as well....

I get that it's your wet dream to sign giannis but must we always have to read about it?

[Hroz]

"Nigerian Freak" does not have a very good ring to it.

He is allowed to borrow the Nigerian nightmare nickname from the Dream till we come up.with something better.

[Hroz]

But yea

Racially Nigerian
Nationality is Greek

[Kilroy]

All the Gen-Zers in the house say; "What does he identify as?"!!

[PharmD]

I'm in a similar situation. Both of my parents are from Iowa and moved here as adults before i was born. I was born in Minnesota and identify as Minnesotan but recognize Iowa as the land of my forefathers.

[Rendei]

One of my passports say one thing and my other passport says another. So what am I?

A spy, most likely.

[TheAlchemist]

His genes and his family are straight up Nigerian.

But he was found in Greece, and he does owe them the fact that he blew up.

[Nuntius]

That's the third time that this thread pops up in the last 24 hours. So, I'll say what I said in the first thread once more:

Neither Masai nor anyone in here or any other forum can decide what Giannis is. Only Giannis has the right to do that. And Giannis says that he identifies as both. In his Twitter, he has both the Greek and the Nigerian flags. In an Instagram message he sent to his brother, Thanasis, he says that he and his brothers are Greek-Nigerians.

Here is the message in question:

Read on Twitter

Here is the translation of this message that I posted in that first thread:

"First of all, I'd like to apologize to you, Thanasis, because I know that what I'm about to say is going to put the spotlight on both you and me and I know that this isn't something you want. However, I am sure that if our father was still here he would be very disappointed if I kept silent. I am losing sleep these past few days over the negative and racist incident that happened recently. If something like that can happen to Thanasis who proudly represents the Greek National Team and Panathinaikos BC, always with a smile on his face, then I can't imagine what other POC (translator's note: Giannis uses the word "έγχρωμοι" which directly translates to colored people in English but since this term has a very negative connotation in English I opted to change it to POC which conveys a similar meaning but without a negative connotation) are going through in Greece. I am very sad and disappointed. But we aren't going to let these negative comments change this family and our love for the country we grew up in. Me and my brothers are Greek-Nigerians and whoever doesn't like it can beat it (translator's note: Giannis says "σε όποιον αρέσουμε" which literally translates to "whoever likes us" but has the connotations of "if someone doesn't like us then they can take a hike" which is why I translated it like that) and we will keep representing and saying nothing but the best for our Country (translator's note: he capitalizes the first letter of the word "πατρίδα" which translates to country)."

Here is the first thread as well, if anyone is wondering -> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1859565&start=40

[Metallikid]

"Nigerian Freak" does not have a very good ring to it.

The Nigerian Nitro?

[Nuntius]

Anyone can look at Giannis and see that he is not Greek. Only difference between Giannis and Black Americans is he knows where he comes from.

Ok so now we're at the point where every black person living in Greece is not considered Greek?

It's all racial nationality and that's it? That's messed up.

You're either a part of the country where you live or you're not. If you're born in America for instance, you're American. That's what the law says and if you don't want to be American, you can leave and go some other place. But the idea that race supersedes everything else is honestly racist.

I didn't make the rules of society. I am just aware of them and have to live in it. For centuries America has been denying that blacks are even human, let alone Americans. Even today blacks are still treated as 3rd class citizens in their "own country". I just find it hilarious that people rush to claim and protect blacks whenever they are doing anything entertaining or accomplish something but won't support us in issues that affect our daily lives. I am American, but certain aspects of society remind me that I am not American and I am not wanted here. I am sure that there is racism against blacks /Africans in Greece, if Giannis wasn't the prominent figure he was, do you think Greece would be so proud of him and would give him support? History says otherwise.

This is a good point and I wholeheartedly agree with it. But we should strive to change those rules of society. We should strive to change those rules that make you feel not wanted in the country that you were born in. Yes, racism exists everywhere. In Greece, in the US, all around the world. We should acknowledge that it exists and we shouldn't pretend that we have somehow solved those issues. We are not even halfway there yet.

Acknowledging the problem is the first step. The second step is to try and affect change. And we aren't going to affect any kind of positive change if we cling to the rules of society that say "if a person looks a certain way then he can't be X or Y".

[Black Jack]

Agreed it is nauseating for people to tell someone their identity. Everyone is clear anyway, he's an ethnic Nigerian who grew up in Greece, not sure why this is a constant issue. He can honor his family heritage and honor the chance he got in Greece equally well, get off his back. He can be a hero and inspiration to both countries equally well.

He speaks and writes freaking greek that's good enough for me

Such a stupid issue to have to constantly discuss.

That's the third time that this thread pops up in the last 24 hours. So, I'll say what I said in the first thread once more:

Neither Masai nor anyone in here or any other forum can decide what Giannis is. Only Giannis has the right to do that. And Giannis says that he identifies as both. In his Twitter, he has both the Greek and the Nigerian flags. In an Instagram message he sent to his brother, Thanasis, he says that he and his brothers are Greek-Nigerians.

Here is the message in question:

Read on Twitter

Here is the translation of this message that I posted in that first thread:

"First of all, I'd like to apologize to you, Thanasis, because I know that what I'm about to say is going to put the spotlight on both you and me and I know that this isn't something you want. However, I am sure that if our father was still here he would be very disappointed if I kept silent. I am losing sleep these past few days over the negative and racist incident that happened recently. If something like that can happen to Thanasis who proudly represents the Greek National Team and Panathinaikos BC, always with a smile on his face, then I can't imagine what other POC (translator's note: Giannis uses the word "έγχρωμοι" which directly translates to colored people in English but since this term has a very negative connotation in English I opted to change it to POC which conveys a similar meaning but without a negative connotation) are going through in Greece. I am very sad and disappointed. But we aren't going to let these negative comments change this family and our love for the country we grew up in. Me and my brothers are Greek-Nigerians and whoever doesn't like it can beat it (translator's note: Giannis says "σε όποιον αρέσουμε" which literally translates to "whoever likes us" but has the connotations of "if someone doesn't like us then they can take a hike" which is why I translated it like that) and we will keep representing and saying nothing but the best for our Country (translator's note: he capitalizes the first letter of the word "πατρίδα" which translates to country)."

Here is the first thread as well, if anyone is wondering -> viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1859565&start=40

[trwi7]

Bring him home Masai.

What do you guys think?

Why would Giannis want to play for the Kano Pillars?

[Matty]

Spoiler:

Just to put this into another perspective and to look at it under another prism...

Read on Twitter

So Masai who is from Nigeria..and Ramatu from Sierra Leone..live in Canada..and are married...

And Masai's and Ramatu's children are Canadians as Masai said.

The late Charles Antetokounmpo (rest his soul) and Veronika Antetokounmpo were born in Nigeria and moved to Greece in the early 90s..and they had 4 children while living in Athens,Greece.

But Giannis is Nigerian and not Greek like Masai said...

Being a Canadian as I am is a nationality and strictly that. Anyone can become a citizen. Our American play by play announcer just became one this year during the playoffs.

Straight from Wiki:

The Greeks or Hellenes (/ˈhɛliːnz/; Greek: Έλληνες, Éllines [ˈelines]) are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world.

[Nuntius]

Did he ever actually live in Nigeria?

Parentage is irrelevant. "Race" is a myth, a social construct. But if he was born and raised in Nigeria, that's different.

Also dangerous btw. It's exactly the same argument ethno-nationalists would use to deny him equal status as a Greek citizen

Ding, ding, ding. You don't even need to use the "would" here. It happened when Giannis was given his citizenship. It is an argument that is consistently used against immigrants over here by neo-Nazis (like Golden Dawn) and various other ethno-nationalists. It even used to be a racist slogan back in the 90s. "Δεν θα γίνεις Έλληνας ποτέ, Αλβανέ" which translates to "You'll never become Greek, Albanian" (the word Albanian being used a slur in that case simply because of its status as a minority). As someone who has been working with and around immigrants for the better part of this decade, I can attest that this argument is the first that's going to be used.

So, it is extremely, extremely disappointing when a GM like Masai uses that exact argument. This obviously isn't his intention but he is empowering those ****.

[dantheman74]

Yea he's Nigerian. I've worked with Greeks and they're short, hairy and fat, and like to eat 5 times as much meat as anyone else you'll ever meet per day.

Trolling. Ethnic profiling. - Ken

[gh123]

I thought Masai is smarter than that. But they always find ways to prove that they are all exactly the same...

[trending]

yeah because giannis is a nigerian name..

[Nuntius]

Masai bringing his son Giannis home

https://theundefeated.com/features/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-greek-freak-wants-to-go-back-to-his-nigerian-roots/amp/

Thread Over. Cant believe none of you guys remember this quote from Giannis himself. He identifies as Nigerian.

That's not the way it works. You don't carry your original country with you forever generation after generation or get to randomly pick one off the map, and say "this is how I identify". Just means his parent s have failed to assimilate. THEY are Nigerian.

Saying that his parents failed to assimilate is unfair to them. My country, Greece, has largely failed its immigrant population. The Greek state was never very willing to recognize these people as citizens and the naturalization process took ages. The Greek state has failed the children of these people even more. The situation got a tad better about 3-4 years ago but we still have a long way to go until the situation becomes acceptable.

[FutureKnicksGM]

Could Giannis become American one day?

[Nuntius]

His nationality is Greek, his family is from Nigeria. It's the equivalent of a random guy saying he's American but Grandparents came from Portugal or something.

Not exactly, United States is the nation immigrants Greece is not a immigrant country what's more is not a immigrant friendly country, immigrants are unwelcome there, his family had to lived on the streets without food for years, nobody helped them or gave a job, even though he's born in Greece, they didn't provide any papers for him so he lived stateless until 18 years old, he self-learned basketball in playgrounds . After Greek Basketball Assosiation scouts discovered him, then all of sudden Greece gave him and his family citizenships. So definetelly Greece did not contribute much to help him to be a great athlete, the great genes were the reason. So whenever i hear the "greek" freak it's cringes me, he's not Greek he's 100% African.


From Wikipedia: "Like many other immigrants to Greece, his parents struggled to find work. Antetokounmpo and his older brother, Thanasis, helped out by hawking items such as watches, bags and sunglasses. In 2007 Antetokounmpo started playing basketball, For the first 18 years of his life Antetokounmpo was effectively stateless, having no papers from Nigeria or Greece..."

From New York Times: "He is known as the Greek Freak, a basketball player of such transcendent ability that he has become celebrated as the face of the country of his birth. Yet for most of his life growing up in Greece, Giannis Antetokounmpo was considered a foreigner. As the son of African immigrants, he was perpetually vulnerable to attacks by racist militants, and to threats of deportation to Nigeria, a country he had never visited."

Do you expect a financially troubled European country like Greece to grant citizenship and benefits to every immigrant who comes across its borders? They've had to be bailed while struggling to take care of their own citizens, much less the millions coming across the Mediterranean. Of course they're going to prioritize citizenship for people who are net positives for their economy; every single country does.

This has nothing to do with the crisis. If anything, the situation has gotten a bit better for immigrants in the past 4 years because our last government was the only one that has done anything for them. Giannis' parents came over in the late 80s, early 90s when our economy was in an economic boom and the Greek state ignored them, just like they have ignored most other people who were in a similar situation.

But I do want to stress one last point. This situation isn't unique to Greece. It is an integral characteristics of nation-states. Immigrants and minorities are consistently discriminated against and considered second-class citizens all around the world. It is a situation that needs to change on a global stage.