While no one could have predicted the champion that Giannis Antetokounmpo could have become, scouts always seem to locate that ‘special gift’ in some of the world’s greatest talents.
Giannis was selected 15th overall by the Bucks as a little known 16-year-old Greek boy, raising the eyebrows of most NBA coaches back in 2013.
Yet no one could have predicted that the same player would achieve the title of NBA MVP and the first player in NBA history to finish a regular season in the top 20 in all ‘big five’ statistics.
Milwaukee Bucks scout Kornél Dávid saw potential in Giannis during his pre-NBA days in Greece, where Giannis and his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo played in near empty Greek gyms.
Speaking to CloseUp360, Kornél details making a trip to Athens back in 2012 to run the rule over Antetokounmpo, which was necessary considering how difficult it was to gather real intel due to Giannis’ absence from traditional European competitions:
“Everybody was wondering, ‘Okay, this kid, I heard about him. He’s from Greece, but he’s not really from Greece. He doesn’t have a Greek passport,’” Kornel says. “He did not play at that time in any European competitions, in any youth system—not under 16, under 18, nowhere. So seeing him competing against the same age group, it was impossible to see him because he never competed against those guys.”
Kornél describes Giannis as “head and shoulders better than the other ones” on his trips to Greece, but also noted how by his second visit word seemed to have gotten out with multiple NBA scouts in attendance.
“I thought he could be special, but the timeframe to when and how long he needs to be that special, it just was a guess,” Kornel says. “And the ceiling where he can be, nobody I think can say that, ‘Okay, this guy going to be an MVP in the league and that good.’”
