For those of you who read my post, From Sepolia to the NBA (here), the Greek basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo has won NBA Most Valuable Player of 2019. Someone whose parents were Nigerian immigrants and who, as a child, helped his family out by hawking stuff on street corners, has gone from strength to strength through talent, willpower and hard work. At the age of 24, he helped his team, the Milwaukee Bucks, win 60 games this season. He is the second Bucks player, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to win this supreme accolade, and only the third non-American to do so. Watch his emotional acceptance speech below.
Giannis is hugely popular in Greece, where fans stay up at night to watch his matches from across the world. He is proudly referred to as Greek in the press, and has represented his country on several occasions. He is constantly lauding Greece and saying how grateful he is for the chances he got, although he did not get official papers until he was 18. It makes you wonder, what would have become of him, if he’d been stuck in one of those infamous refugee camps…
Letters from Athens 
That’s a fantastic achievement for the young man. Imagine what the abilities and potential of other people languishing in camps all around the world.
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A wonderful accomplishment. Bravo!
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Now if we–all of us, from all our countries–could embrace the many who haven’t had the few breaks that allowed his determination and gifts to triumph, think what we might make of this world.
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Sigh…
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A great ‘against all odds’ story.
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Yes. Nice to read about, against all the horror stories
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Thank you for sharing this heartfelt post about Giannis. If only everyone could see the gifts we deny when we turn away “strangers.” Wishing Giannis many more fulfilling years.
Your art gets more and more interesting, Marina. I don’t Instagram, but I do enjoy seeing your art in the sidebar. It’s been much fun seeing your art progress over the years.
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Thanks, Shari, I really appreciate the encouragement. I also see progress in people I follow on IG, as they say, practice makes perfect!
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Wonderful!
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