Just a week ago, Giannis had the honor of carrying Greece's flag during the opening ceremony, a remarkable journey considering he was stateless and faced numerous challenges in obtaining Greek citizenship until he was 19. He even changed his last name from Adetokunbo to Antetokounmpo to navigate bureaucratic hurdles.
"The day they told me and asked me if I'd be willing to represent the country and be the flag barrier, my first response was, 'I want my captain, Kostas Papanikolaou, to do it.' He had more national team appearances than me. But it was like, 'No, we want you to do it because you represent everything that sports represents: the way you carry yourself on the court and off the court; we love you to do it.'
"And, I said, great. It'd be an honor for me to do it. And when I did it, as I said, the biggest honor that I've ever done in my life," Giannis stressed.
"And I know that my father is watching from heaven, and he's dancing about this. It's something that might not happen again. I might win another [NBA] championship, I might win another MVP: who knows? But I might never carry the flag.
"So I tried those 45 minutes to soak it in as much as I could. Going through the Eiffel Tower, and it was raining. It made it even more dramatic. Seeing my mom from all of the family... It was a great experience, and I will never forget it in my life."
linking the author's twitter, i think the website the article is on gets caught by Auto Mod
