Antetokounmpo is now the first Nike athlete with a signature basketball shoe who was not born in the U.S.GETTY IMAGES
Bucks F Giannis Antetokounmpo last month debuted his first signature shoe, the Nike Zoom Freak 1s, and he said he wanted it to "basically introduce me and my family to the world," according to Aaron Dodson of THE UNDEFEATED, who offered an inside look at the shoe's development. The outer midsoles of each sneaker "feature the name of his parents: his mother, Veronica, and late father, Charles, who emigrated together from Nigeria to Greece." Antetokounmpo: "I wanted a good-looking shoe that could tell a story that a kid could relate to." After Antetokounmpo was drafted in '13, he said Nike was the "only company that took a chance on me" with a shoe deal. Antetokounmpo: "People from Nike came in and said, 'We're gonna get that guy. We're gonna take care of him and his family.' That meant a lot." Dodson noted in late September '17, Antetokounmpo and his family "met Nike at a downtown Milwaukee hotel." Nike "pitched Antetokounmpo on a contract extension with a presentation focused on him becoming just the 22nd basketball player in company history to receive a signature sneaker -- and, even more monumental, Nike Basketball's first signature athlete born and raised outside" the U.S. Antetokounmpo "re-signed with Nike" in November '17. Antetokounmpo said, "I had to act like it was a tough decision. There were a lot of other companies that were willing to give me a lot of money." He added, "At the end of the day, I gotta stay loyal to the people who helped me" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 7/12).
TIME TO CELEBRATE: In Milwaukee, Meg Jones noted yesterday "several thousand Bucks fans hollered and cheered" during Antetokounmpo's MVP celebration in the outdoor plaza of Fiserv Forum. Fans filled the entire Fiserv Forum Plaza and "crowded the balconies of sports bars overlooking the plaza." They "wore Bucks hats and T-shirts in a variety of colors." After the event, Antetokounmpo "visited a small merchandise trailer to hand out boxes of his new shoes to really lucky Bucks fans" (JSONLINE.com, 7/14).
