22-year old Kostas Antetokounmpo is rarely in the spotlight. With his older brother Giannis’ 2019 NBA MVP stint and even older brother Thanasis’ tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks, this is no surprise. Nevertheless, today we're going to look at some Kostas Antetokounmpo tattoos.

Unlike his brother’s global success, Kostas in his collegiate years, only played as back-up forward for the Dayton Flyers. But worth noting is that he is actually the first person in his family to attend college. 

Kostas was the final draft pick of the 2018 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Recently, he has joined the ranks of NBA greats Lebron James and Avery Bradley as a Laker although he mostly played for the franchise’s South Bay team. Prior to that he has only ever spent most of his playing time in the NBA Club and the G-League

The younger Antetokounmpo only has one tattoo. 

Lion on left forearm

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gDGHVnVyY/

The 6-foot-10 power forward chose to embellish his impressive 7’2” wingspan with a beautiful tattoo of a lion. While many may think that it’s an allusion to his hidden ferocity on the floor, the tattoo is actually a dedication to their late father. 

In a 2018 feature on the Athletic, the Leo is their father Charles zodiac sign. To the younger Antetokounmpo, he had always looked up to his father as a lion who took care  of “little pride of boys” back home in Greece

The tattoo reads: “I am my father’s legacy.”

Writer Brian Hamilton writes: 

“When Kostas was little, the family used to say he was the son who was most like the father, a quiet man who minded his own business. His mother said they looked just like each other. Same build. Same face. A spitting image.”

The Antetokounmpo family dynasty is on its way to becoming one of the most iconic family names in the basketball industry. The other Antetokounmpo siblings are athletes too. The eldest Antetokounmpo is a football player back home in Greece while their youngest sibling Alexis at 19 also plays basketball.

For Kostas, this is reminiscent of his father’s advice:

“You can have a lot of money, you can have houses, cars,but your children will continue your legacy. They will make your name proud.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYmNT50hR8G/

None of the other Antetokounmpos have made a mark as recognizable as Giannis’ marvelous performance. But if Kostas is bred with the same genes as his older brothers Giannis “The Greek Freak” and Thanasis, he’s definitely someone to look out for. 

However, his earlier basketball years have been a lackluster experience.

In a 2016 scouting article, Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz wrote for the DraftExpress:

“Offensively, Antetokounmpo mostly fills in the blanks as a secondary option, being a pass-first player who likes to operate off the ball. He showed some potential as a shooter in drills, as the ball comes out of his hand nicely with good rotation, but is far from translating that to game-settings at this stage.”

On the upside, Kostas was seen as a prospective defensive player. He impresses with his athleticism and versatility as he was able to defend bigger men on the paint something that still holds true today. 

Fast forward to today with his tenure with the Mavericks and the Lakers, Kostas barely reached the 10-minute mark on the floor. As a South Bay Laker, he averaged 13.1 points and 7.1 rebounds for the South Bay Lakers while his field goal percentage has improved greatly to 62.1 percent this year.

He’s definitely one of the more low-profile players. But maybe we’re just saying because we had a point of comparison. Who knows? One thing is for sure, he definitely needs to walk out of his family name’s spotlight. Nonetheless, that's that for Kostas Antetokounmpo tattoos.