With all the news surrounding new Los Angeles Lakers star Bronny James and his relationship to his father LeBron James, the term nepotism has been brought up a numerous amount of times. The same has been said in reference to Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo whose brother is star Giannis Antetokounmpo as he talks about how the situation with him was earned and not given because of his name.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo talks his draft history before Bucks
Thanasis Antetokounmpo was on the show “The Bootleg Kev Podcast” where he spoke about the claims that he has a job in the NBA because of his brother. However, the Bucks star would shoot down those claims as there were teams interested in him in the same NBA Draft that his brother Giannis went 15th overall in as he would have apparently been selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the second round.
“You know you see people say stuff online, I’m like guys if you really knew you’d be like what!” Thanasis Antetokounmpo said. “So Giannis gets drafted, and in the same draft that Giannis gets drafted, I had an agent at the time, I was the best man at his wedding, they call him and go, “hey, is Thanasis in the draft,” this is 2 days before, he goes “no, he’s not in the draft” they go “damn we would’ve picked him at #52 with Brooklyn. I go like what, they would’ve picked me. Mind you I have no paper work, nothing, I didn’t do nothing you have to submit everything. I’m like man, Giannis get drafted first round, that year, same year.”
Thanasis defends himself amidst nepotism claims
Antetokounmpo would then be drafted the year after his brother with the 51st overall pick to the New York Knicks. However, he was then asked about basketball analyst and former player Charles Barkley saying that he will always have a job when his sibling is on the team since the duo of brothers are on the Bucks. The lesser known brother though would take that as a “compliment,” also saying that besides having a great attitude, “you've got to bring something to the table.”
“That’s a compliment, because that means I’m a good person. Nobody gives you nothing if they don’t like you first of all, that’s one thing,” Antetokounmpo said on “The Bootleg Kev” show. “And you’ve got to bring something to the table, but I actually like Charles Barkley and I actually like Shaq. This is like a funny joke but like the thing is what happens is, some kids believe that.”
Nepotism a topic of discussion with news of Bronny James
Nepotism has been a topic of conversation with the Antetokounmpo brothers on the Bucks, but the conversation has been amplified tenfold with the Lakers drafting the 19-year old Bronny James in the second round. However, a media personality like Stephan A. Smith does not believe this to be as grand of issue as people are making it out to be, which he would point out the double standard in terms of race.
“We live in a country where nepotism has taken place with white folks religiously, forever,” Smith said. “In the NBA specifically, in a league where at least 70 percent of the players are Black, we’ve seen nepotism with white folks all over the place. Ownership, executive ranks, player personnel, scouting, coaching, the list goes on and on. We’ve said little to nothing about it. And now this happens with LeBron James, a member of the Mount Rushmore of basketball, and all of a sudden you’ve got people running their mouths.”
“Bronny James would not be on an NBA roster if it were not for LeBron James,” Smith continued. “We all know this. We accept it. The issue is the resentment that’s emanating from people out there. How dare you resent LeBron James…America, not everybody, not most, but a lot of people are about, ‘stay in your place, stay in your lane.’ And LeBron James has religiously been about the business of defining his own lane.”
Nepotism “is rampant” in the NBA
Nepotism has been a part of the sports world arguably since its inception as besides the likes of Antetokounmpo and James, people hear about relatives getting jobs within the ownership and executive level all the time. This point was made by Adrian Wojnarowski during the NBA Draft where he says the league itself is “full of nepotism.”
“I don't wanna hear these charges. People talking about nepotism. The NBA is full of nepotism,” Wojnarowski said. “The ownership level, front offices, coaching. I don't want to hear [about] it all of a sudden because Bronny James' father plays for the Lakers. It is rampant in this league.”
How Thanasis Antetokounmpo has fared in his career with Bucks
However, Thanasis Antetokounmpo is of the belief that his situation is vastly different since when he was drafted in 2014, his brother was not an established player just yet which makes a lot of people's point null in void. On the other hand, people wonder if the current status of his roster spot could be where nepotism comes in to play.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a perennial All-Star, has won two NBA MVP awards, won a championship, and consistently puts up insane statistics like last season where he averaged 30.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 61.1 percent from the field. For his brother, he has not cracked over three points per game, especially in the 2023-24 basketball year where he played in 34 games, averaging 4.6 minutes per game.
At any rate, Thanasis Antetokounmpo is looking to make a larger impact with the Bucks once he fully recovers from a torn achilles tendon that he had surgery for. Looking at Milwaukee itself, they had a disappointing ending to their season being eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the first round with Giannis out with injury. Though, they still finished with a 49-33 season putting them at the third seed amidst a coaching change in the middle of the year as they fired Adrian Griffin and hired Doc Rivers.
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