So the soft euros...

[DiogoLandim]

Does Giannis speak at least one of the many languages in Nigeria, like Igbo or Yoruba? Because i'm pretty sure he can speak and write in greek.

As much as Giannis wants, he was trained, feeded and studied under greek soil. You want to combat racism? Fine, but that does not make you more nigerian. Same to Hachimura, his mother attended to the draft, and from what i saw she's very japanese. But hey, there is discrimination in our historically closed country, so i'm less japanese. Well, you're not.

I'm from Brazil and we have people of all possible colors of the world here. That doesn't stop racism from being pretty strong in here. My grandmother came from Angola, my grandfather from France, wich one I should choose to be? French, angolan or brazilian? I should look to my skin color to decide this?

This logic happens with american players as well, look at Curry. You can show his picture to anyone here and asks his color, everyone will say that he is white. But according to what I saw in RealGM ( older posts) he has a black father, so no, he's not white. My point Is, when It comes to country you belong to where you was born and grown up, and when it comes to color you are what you skin says. Giannis is a black man from Greece, there's no argument over this.

[WeTheOther]

And the king of Canadia is from LA.

The world is upside down, but at least one constant is the Knicks still suck.

He's from Capetown

Watch on YouTube

[Arteezy]

Race is a social construct.

WARNED/SUSPENDED --- no racist memes on RGM.

[Sabas11]

Race is a social construct.

Very witty. Social Darwinism FTW amirite?

[UcanUwill]

If you did one of those dna ancestry deals on Giannis im not sure how "European" he would be.

This is ridiculous

Do you consider RJ Barrett not Canadian?

Or any of American players americans... Such silly comment by him.

The MVP is Nigerian mate.

Touche.
He was born in Greece. Parents from Nigeria.

Wanna do this for Americans? Aren't they all of either European or African origin? With a pinch of Asian thrown in? Any actual Americans there?

Well, to be fair, there is a difference between first generation immigrant son, and being 5 or more generations in. America is a young country, of course its people are of different ancestry, its a silly argument IMO.

[alienswon]

we're all from mars.

[E-Balla]

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Born: December 6, 1994 (age 24 years), Athens, Greece

“Obviously, a lot of people don’t know where I’m from,” Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo told The Undefeated. “A lot of people think my mom or my dad are from Greece, but no. Both of my parents are black. Both of my parents are Nigerian.”

“I grew up in a Nigerian home,” Antetokounmpo said. “Obviously, I was born in Greece and went to school in Greece. But at the end of the day when I go home, there is no Greek culture. It’s straight-up Nigerian culture. It’s about discipline, it’s about respecting your elders, having morals.”

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

What does exactly prove? You don't get to pick your "nationality" (unless you want to change it)
the USA is full of people who have grown up in a "not-US" house.
I understand Giannis doesn't feel like a "normal" greek person...I give you that.

The key disconnect here, and I'll respect calling him Greek after Nuntius' great post but I'll say where this thought comes from, is that Giannis wasn't a Greek citizen his whole life. He was stateless. Being born to Nigerian parents he considered himself Nigerian because he wasn't at all Greek, just some Nigerian kid living in Greece. If he didn't play basketball he'd have an easier time getting Nigerian citizenship than Greek citizenship (as he is technically a citizen by descent).

He also does speak Igbo a little, he's not fluent but knows a decent amount. Either way comparing it to American players is absurd since they're all born and raised US citizens. They're clearly American. Giannis is only Greek because it was advantageous to their international basketball program.

Shoutout to the blatant racism from Arteezy though. Who was it that told me they didn't realize RealGM was racist the other day again?

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Shoutout to the blatant racism from Arteezy though. Who was it that told me they didn't realize RealGM was racist the other day again?

Yeah, this place is a cesspool when it comes to topics on race, the Masai thread was another shining example of that. They lock the threads quickly cause they know deep down that this place isn't that far off from R/The_Donald in terms of racism and bigotry.

[Clyde Frazier]

So instead of "it's amazing how basketball has become such a global game at the highest level" we got a lot of non-basketball combative responses...

Disappointed, but not surprised.

[og15]

dude was literally rejected by greece untill they realized he could be good at basketball.

Yea, it does suck, but it isn't surprising. Didn't Rui Hachimura say the same thing about how he was treated in Japan until he became good at basketball? Saying that he felt more comfortable in NY because he didn't stand out, while in Japan everyone looked the same, and then he was the odd one out, and he was discriminated against. Of course after he became good at basketball, then he was embraced, it sadly does happen.

Japan is the complete opposite of a diverse society. Only less tham 2% of the population is foreigner, because the country has been historically closed to immigration (even if this is changing a little bit lately), and the majority of these foreigners are other asians or europeans, so a black man stands out a lot.
In the US this is not the case, there is a long history of immigration and there are a lot of black people, so I'm not surprised Rui feels more comfortable there.

Yea, for sure, I know about the lack of diversity in Japan and their immigration policies. What I was pointing out is that Greece is not the only place where the "society" in general will discriminate against and/or not fully accept someone, sometimes until the person becomes "useful" or "beneficial" for lack of better words to the society. Rui wasn't simply talking about standing out, but also about being discriminated against, being called names when his team was playing, etc.

It happens, and in many places, and it is sad, sure, because for example if a Giannis or Rui was instead infamous for doing something bad, the same societies would likely try and distance themselves from those people. Giannis would not be Greek, he would just be a Nigerian living in Greece for example, and Rui wouldn't "really" be Japanese, etc. My point is that it happens around in societies, we'll claim what benefits us and if possible try to distance ourselves from what doesn't. Just didn't want it to be presented like Greece is the only place that is working on being better with these kinds of issues.

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