Thanasis Antetokounmpo: Is he the worst player in the NBA?

 

Thanasis Antetokounmpo this year, has become one of the most well known NBA players worldwide - but for all the wrong reasons. 

Since the start of the 2023-2024 season I have seen plenty of videos on social medial (instagram, facebook etc.) trashing Thanasis for his lack of skills. 

It's the first time I have seen so many pages and people trolling an NBA player so much. For those who might not know, Thanasis is the brother of NBA superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

That's some tough shoes to fill. That's one of the first reasons why Thanasis is receiving so much flack for his underwhelming perfomances. Being the brother of one of the NBA's all time greats is not an easy task, mainly if you are playing on the same team. 

But does he deserves the hate he receives from the fans? Is he such a bad player as social media wants to you to believe he is?
Let's find out!

 Early years

Thanasis Antetokounmpo was born in Athens on July 1992 and is the second of five children born to his Nigerian parents, Veronica and Charles Antetokounmpo who were both ex-athletes.

Thanasis started his basketball career from his hometown team, filathlitikos, a greek team competing at the national Greek basketball divisions.

This is where Thanasis and his brother Giannis, rose to stardom. The high flying dunks and lobs, the incredible defensive highlights and his unmatching energy on the court, brought the eyes of the nba scouts.

First NBA stint

 

Thanasis alongside his brother Giannis, declared for the NBA 2013 draft, which found Giannis being drafted with the 15th overall by the Milwaukee bucks.

Thanasis desided to withdraw from the draft few days before but was later selected in the 2014 nba G-League draft by the delaware 87ers.

Thanasis first impression on the Delaware 87ers were pretty good and brought him the attention of nba teams. For the 2013-2014 G-league season he averaged in 50 games, 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks and was rewarded with an third team all G-league defense.

After the 2013-2014 season the New York Knicks saw the raw potential of Thanasis and drafted him with 51st pick of the 2014 draft. The team assigned him afterwards to their subsidiary team, Westchester knicks.

Thanasis spent the entire season on Wetchester and average a solid 13.9 points per game along with 6.2 rebounds 1.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks per game.

It wasn't until January of the 2015-2016 season when the Knicks had seen enough and decided to bring Thanasis to their team. But they never actually gave him a chance, only playing him garbage minutes so he wasn't able to show his true potential. Thanasis then returned and finished the season on wetchester.

Back to Europe and the second NBA stint

After the short NBA stint, Thanasis decided that it was time for him to try out the european style of basketball. His first contract in Europe was in the competitive Spanish basketball league, ACB liga with Andorra. 

Andorra (2016-2017)

Thanasis Antetokounmpo playing for Andorra

Thanasis had a great year in Andorra, being one of the most important players of his team. At the young age of 22, Thanasis showed signs of his talent while helping his team reach the quarter finals against Real madrid. Real's firepower was too much for Thanasis and Andorra to handle. Andorra was eliminated after 3 hard fought battles (Andorra won 1 of the 3 games). 

Thanasis upped his perfomances in the playoffs and with averages 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, earned him for the award of the most spectacular ACB player of the year!  

Panathinaikos (2017-2019)

Thanasis with Panathinaikos

After Andorra, Thanasis returned back to his homeland, Greece for Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos BC. His role deminished compared to the one he had with Andorra, but he was still an important role player for Panathinaikos. 

For 2 years he stayed there, he became a fan favourite. His impressive highlights, dunks and blocks with his unmatching energy and love for the game, earned him the respect of the Panathinaikos fan base. He helped Panathinaikos bring the 36th and 37th Greek basketball championship. Thanasis was also named MVP of the 2017-2018 Greek all star game and was named the most spectacular player of the same season.

Back to USA

After 3 succesfull seasons on the highest european level, Thanasis decided that it was time for him to return to the NBA. Milwaukee Bucks, where Giannis his brother, was already creating his legend, decided to give Thanasis a contract and a chance to establish himself on an NBA level. 

Fast forward to now..

Currently Thanasis is finishing his 5th straight season on NBA roster with the team he signed back in 2019. The Milwaukee Bucks. At the age of 32 Thanasis has the most wanted accolade out of all - an NBA Championship. 

But is he getting the respect he deserves? Certainly no. Thanasis this year has become the laughing stock of the league. Everywhere you look you see now and then his lowlights, his bloopers, the shoots his missing, the turnovers he makes. If you take a look at the comments it gets worse. 

''The highest paid bodyguard in NBA history''

''Equipment manager''

''Highest paid cheerleader in the NBA''

Those are only some of the hate comments that are being written all over social media about Thanasis. Is it justified? Certainly NO! Thanasis Antetokounmpo is one of the 560 NBA players currently on earth. Just think about it for a second. 

If you take a look, there are roughly 75,000 to 150,000 professional basketball players and 450 million amauters on the world! Thanasis is playing in the most competitive league out of all. He actually belongs in the 0,000001 who plays in the NBA!!!

So.. is Thanasis Antetokounmpo the worst player in the NBA?

Let's be honest here. Thanasis in his 5 seasons in Milwaukee hasn't played at all. He is mostly getting garbage minutes. Is Thanasis playing because of his brother? Maybe, but do not forget that he plays for a team whose competing for a championship every year for the last 5 years.

If Thanasis was playing in a mid-tier NBA team he would certainly get more playing time. Meaningful playing time. He can offer a lot for a team. Defense, unmatching energy, vetereran locker leadership. Let's think about it for a second. How many guys can do that for a team nowadays? Believe me, not that many.

Thanasis made a difficult choice. He sacrificed his career to be there for his brother. He could have gone anywhere else and have a great role player career. Maybe he is not a star but he is far from being a bad player. From my standpoint of view, he is the ultimate family figure and he has my upmost respect for that.

And let's not forget that he is a soldier for his home country. He is always there at every important competition, giving his 100% in every game of the national Greek team. Trust me, I have watched all the games.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo is not a bad player by any means. Misunderstood yes, bad certainly no!

What do you think? I would love to hear you opinion in the comments!

'Until the next time, thank you for being here'

The Sports Bust - James Bartzis