NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo relished his Nigerian roots

While the Milwaukee Bucks have exited the playoffs after a series defeat to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, star man Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to make headlines after another exceptional season.

And the 25-year-old forward is very much a son of Africa, as he recently told The Undefeated, a sports website operated by ESPN which focuses on the intersections of race, sports, culture and more.

Viewers on DStv can still look forward to thrills and spills from the world's best basketball league, as ESPN 2 brings live action from the 2019-20 National Basketball Association (NBA season) this coming week, September 18 to September 24.

"Obviously, a lot of people don't know where I'm from," Antetokounmpo explained. "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."

Charles and Veronica Adetokunbo moved from Lagos to Greece in 1991, with their eldest son, Francis, left behind in Lagos to be raised by his grandparents. The Adetokunbos had four more sons, all born in Greece, including Giannis in December 1994. Antetokounmpo became Giannis' surname after it was spelt that way on his Greek passport instead of his birth name of Adetokunbo. He may have grown up in Greece, but his home culture was very much a Nigerian one.

"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."

Of the Igbo language his mother spoke to him as a child, the basketball star adds: "I can understand it a little bit. I can count. It's not like I'm fluent. It's not like I can go back home to Nigeria and they can understand what I am saying. It's kind of funny. Both my parents are from Nigeria. But Nigeria is like 250 dialects, so my mom and my dad don't speak the same language."

Antetokounmpo also explained that he would love to visit his parents' home country in the near future.

"I want to see where my family comes from, where my mom was raised, see my family, see where my dad was raised. That is very important. I hope my kids can do the same thing for me," he said. "Obviously, I am going to have kids that are going to grow up in the U.S., but one day I hope they can go back [to Greece] and visit and see where I grew up, the playground I was playing."

He even possesses a Nigerian passport: "It's important. It's part of who I am. Both of my parents are Nigerian. They wanted me to get it. I wanted to have it, so I got it."