Yesterday, Janis Adetokumbo signed the largest contract in the history of the NBA - for $228.2 million, he extended his cooperation with Milwaukee for the next five years.
He is only 26 years old, he has been a superstar for a long time, officially MVP twice in a row...
He dominates the style of play and physical predispositions, and with yesterday's signing he set the limits in the financial aspect of the global sports show, such as the NBA league...
His path to basketball Olympus is one of those that are remembered and retold, that serve as an example.
Janis is the son of Nigerian emigrants Charles and Veronika, who fled to Greece, without hope or future.
In order to feed themselves, they were street sellers of anything and everything, and their children, as soon as they were old enough, started helping them - Andreas, Tanasis and Janis.
"I'm not going to say it was difficult, but it was," Janis said.
Basketball was a kind of outlet, but even there the capacities were limited - he trained in the small club Filatlitikos, next to the Zografou district of Athens. Neither PAO, nor Olympiakos, nor AEK, but a club that now plays in the fourth league of Greece. Classic amateurism...
But, in 2011, he was already a first-team player, with only 15...
He was noticed by Vili Vilar, then the sporting director of Zaragoza, who signed him in December 2012.
Nevertheless, the story of the physically dominant and technically extremely gifted Greek of Nigerian origin quickly spread.
NBA scouts swung into action, but the risk was too great for many.
Milwaukee took a risk and in 2013 chose him as the 15th in the draft from the club that was then playing in the 2nd Greek division.
That year, Anthony Bennett was chosen as the first pick, Alex Lenj as the fifth, Steven Adams as the 12th...
Bucks took a risk and got a premium.
It will be remembered that Janis came to the draft night without a suit, because he didn't have the money to buy one, and his statement after the selection is also remembered:
"We had one pair of trainers - sometimes Tanasis would wear them, sometimes I would".
Today, Janis is the face of the giant "Nike", and Tanasis is also a successful basketball player, Janis' teammate in Milwaukee...
The legend also says that he passed all the money from the first contract to his parents, and that he went to training in Milwaukee either by taxi or by running to the camp, because sometimes he didn't have money to pay for transportation...
And so his journey began - from 6.8 points in the first season, from MVP titles in the last two years and the biggest contract in history...
Related Articles
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
