Milwaukee Bucks big man Giannis Antetokounmpo boasts an impressive CV at the age of 28.
An NBA champion in 2021, the Greek-Nigerian star is a two-time regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and a seven-time All-Star who has earned All-NBA First-Team honors on four occasions.
Sounds like someone who was embarrassed with college offers, right? Except he wasn’t; the power forward only got an offer from one college before he ended up in the NBA.
If he had his way, though, he would have attended Duke. Speaking to For The Win’s Bryan Kalbrosky in a recent Q&A, Giannis revealed he would have loved to play for the Blue Devils.
Definitely Duke. I like Duke because of the players that came out of that program. You usually see a lot of four men that don’t fit the mold. I think I’m one of those guys. I’m 6’11” and I can handle the ball and pass and get in the paint. You see players like that who came out of that program: Zion Williamson, Jabari Parker, Jayson Tatum, and Brandon Ingram. Not only are they very good basketball-wise but academically it’s also a great school.
While he never received an offer from Duke, he still ended up getting drafted out of his home country, Greece, and has since blossomed into the star described above.
“When I was 15, I was ‘highly recruited’ by Old Dominion,” he added. “That was my only offer.”
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Another year of development plus college experience would have probably done Giannis the world of good. But, having entered the league at the age of 18 back in 2013, he’s considered to be the best of the current era by many. So everything worked out.
The forward is unlikely to play against the Brooklyn Nets this Thursday as he is dealing with a knee injury and illness.
The Bucks, meanwhile, lead the Eastern Conference with a 47-18 record and are in the hunt for what would be a second championship in three years.
