Athanasios Rotimi "Thanasis" Antetokounmpo (born Adetokunbo, July 18, 1992) is a Nigerian-Greek professional basketball player who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the international stage, he has represented the Greek national team since 2016.
Listed at 6 feet and 7 inches, he plays at the small forward and power forward positions. He won back-to-back Greek League championships with Panathinaikos in 2018 and 2019 and the NBA championship with the Bucks in 2021.
Antetokounmpo is the older brother of Giannis, two-time NBA MVP (who is also his former teammate), as well as Kostas and Alex.
Antetokounmpo was born in Athens, the second of five boys born to his Nigerian parents Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo. He began playing youth club basketball with the junior teams of Filathlitikos in 2008, and then played with the senior men's team of Filathlitikos in the semi-professional Greek fourth division (2010–11 season).
In 2011, Antetokounmpo began his professional level career with Filathlitikos, of the Greek 3rd Division, after previously playing with the club in the Greek minor leagues. During the 2012–13 Greek 2nd Division season with Filathlitikos, he averaged 12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. He was selected by the coaches to play in the 2013 Greek All-Star Game as a special participant, even though he was not actually selected as an all-star, and competed in the slam dunk contest as players from the second division are eligible to compete in the dunk competition.
After originally declaring for the 2013 NBA draft, he withdrew from the draft on June 17, 2013, along with 17 other players, on the day of the withdrawal deadline. He had originally entered the draft with his younger brother Giannis.
He played four games for Filathlitikos in the 2013–14 Greek A2 League season. In a round 2 game against Ermis Lagkada on October 19, 2013. He recorded 15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in his team's 76–69 win.
On November 1, 2013, Antetokounmpo was selected by the Delaware 87ers with the ninth overall pick in the 2013 NBA Development League Draft. On November 23, 2013, in his D-League debut, Antetokounmpo recorded 14 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, in a 117–106 loss to the Canton Charge. He also competed at the 2014 NBA D-League Slam Dunk Contest.
During the 2013–14 NBA Development League season, he averaged 12.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks in 50 games. On May 1, 2014, he was named to the 2014 NBA D-League All-Defensive third team.
Westchester Knicks (2014–2016)
On June 26, 2014, Antetokounmpo was selected with the 51st overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He later joined the Knicks for the 2014 NBA Summer League where he averaged 3.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in five games. On November 3, 2014, he was acquired by the Westchester Knicks. On April 22, 2015, he was named to the 2015 NBA D-League All-Defensive second team. In 47 games for Westchester, he averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game.
In July 2015, Antetokounmpo re-joined the New York Knicks for the 2015 NBA Summer League where he averaged 6.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in five games. On August 7, 2015, he signed with the Knicks, only to be waived by the team on October 23, after appearing in three preseason games. Later that month, he returned to the Westchester Knicks.
On January 29, 2016, Antetokounmpo signed a 10-day contract with the New York Knicks. He made his NBA debut later that night, scoring two points in two minutes of action against the Phoenix Suns.
On February 8, 2016, New York decided not to renew Antetokounmpo's contract, and the following day, he returned to Westchester.
On August 8, 2016, Antetokounmpo signed with MoraBanc Andorra of the Liga ACB. He played an instrumental role as his team qualified for the first time in 22 years to the ACB playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Real Madrid. He averaged 7.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game during regular season, before raising his contribution to 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in the playoffs. The Spanish basketball magazine Gigantes del Basket awarded Antetokounmpo with their 2017 "Top 5 Trophy", which goes to the Liga ACB "Most Spectacular Player of the Year".
On July 11, 2017, Antetokounmpo returned to Greece and signed a two-year deal with the EuroLeague giants Panathinaikos, of Greece's top-tier level Greek Basket League. He was named the MVP of the 2018 Greek All-Star Game. In June 2018, Antetokounmpo won the championship of the Greek League 2017–18 season with Panathinaikos, after beating Olympiacos in the league's finals, after a five-game series. He was named the Greek League's Most Spectacular Player, of the 2017–18 season.
On February 17, 2019, he won the Greek Cup's 2019 Grand Final, after Panathinaikos defeated PAOK, by a score of 79–73 in the title game, which was held in Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena, on Crete. On June 14, 2019, Antetokounmpo was crowned the Greek Basket League's 2018–19 season champion with Panathinaikos, for a second year in a row, after they swept Promitheas in the league's finals.
On July 16, 2019, Antetokounmpo signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, reuniting with his brother Giannis, also becoming the second pair of brothers on the Bucks roster, after twins Brook and Robin Lopez.