![\"victory-in-the-streets-where-giannis-was-raised0\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/c7c5901e215af9497f622eb677fc9188_Sepolia-Giannis-3.jpg\")
The Kivotos cafe in Sepolia, where Giannis spent time as a child, now stands as a shrine to the great athlete. [Konstantinos Georgopoulos]<\/p>\nDriving toward Sepolia, northwestern Athens, it\u2019s impossible not to think of the humble years Giannis Antetokounmpo spent in this neighborhood with his family \u2013 years the star athlete has often recalled with both emotion and anger. Reaching Dyrrachiou Street via Kifissou Avenue \u2013 where the basketball court on which Giannis made his first dunk was recently renovated with his own money \u2013 the scene shifts.<\/p>\n
Cars race furiously down the two-way road, teenagers fill the countless chain cafes that have sprung up in recent years, while the voices of children playing basketball on the neighborhood\u2019s only court \u2013 its floor sporting a graffiti portrait of the NBA star \u2013 are almost drowned out by the noise. \u201cGiannis took off from here,\u201d the locals say.<\/p>\n
Directly across the street, at the Kivotos cafe, sits Giannis Tzikas \u2013 the \u201cangel,\u201d as Giannis calls him, for the kindness and support he showed him and his brothers when they were young. He\u2019s getting ready to watch Greece face Lithuania. With the national team already up by 10 points in the first quarter, the basketball fan recalls the first time he met the Antetokounmpo children.<\/p>\n
The Kivotos cafe in Sepolia, where Giannis spent time as a child, now stands as a shrine to the great athlete. [Konstantinos Georgopoulos]<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was summer, and the little ones would come by. Once, twice, three times. We\u2019d give them orangeade, maybe a milkshake. I met their parents. Their mother, Veronica \u2013 a strong woman. I got permission for the kids to hang around. Their late father, Charles, also spent time here \u2013 an exceptional man, very strong, a former soccer player in Nigeria. Then they fled together and came to Greece, looking for refuge. The kids were very good. They didn\u2019t cause trouble, they didn\u2019t mess around. They just played basketball across the street. But let\u2019s be honest, they weren\u2019t in the club. They didn\u2019t have player licenses. Registration was 15 euros \u2013 where would they find 30 euros? They barely had food. Thanasis was the first to start. He joined Filathlitikos. Then the other two followed. That\u2019s where Giannis\u2019 first coach, Takis Zivas, came in \u2013 he played a big role in Giannis\u2019 early steps. After that, I think Giannis worked harder than anyone. He pushed himself to escape all this, to lift his family out of it. And he became what he is today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the kid,\u201d he says fondly, as Giannis Antetokounmpo appears on his tablet screen, sinking free throws after a foul, Greece still in the lead. Tzikas even traveled to Milwaukee to see the \u201cchild,\u201d as he calls him. \u201cWe stayed there 12 days with my wife just to see him,\u201d he says proudly. Then his tone turns reflective, recalling the hardships and racism Giannis endured in Greece.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had some so-called \u2018Greeks\u2019 here, plenty of them. Golden Dawn. They used to call me every day, telling me not to let the little black kids gather here. But I ignored them. Back then, they were the only black kids around \u2013 we had Pakistanis and other nationalities, but not Africans. They stood out like a fly in milk. But those kids were more Greek than us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018He pushed himself to escape all this, to lift his family out of it. And he became what he is today\u2019<\/p>\n
Halftime arrives, and Greece is still ahead. Across the street, on the same court, 30-year-old Loic Mbakop from Dijon, France, is playing basketball with a group of local children. A professional with a French team, he has come to visit the neighborhood of the NBA star, to score baskets where Giannis once did.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe made all our dreams come true,\u201d says Mbakop, who was born in Cameroon but is now a French citizen. \u201cWe came to Europe as immigrants, and through Giannis we saw that everything is possible,\u201d he adds, before grabbing the ball to show off his skills. \u201cDoes he play in the NBA?\u201d the kids ask. Could the next Antetokounmpo be growing up here today?<\/p>\n
The mothers in the stands quickly bring the dream back down to earth. \u201cWe consider Giannis one of our own \u2013 we\u2019re proud of him,\u201d says Nadia. \u201cWe all remember him as a little boy. But think about it \u2013 this court is the only place where our kids can play. Here they learn basketball, soccer, even skating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t a patch of green, and within 500 meters we have four schools,\u201d adds Lydia, a migrant. \u201cWe talk about producing champions \u2013 we even have our club \u2013 but no proper hoops. And the state? It waits for Antetokounmpo. What did the state ever do for him?\u201d she says, abruptly ending the conversation.<\/p>\n
On the court, the first cracks in the surface are already showing. Residents tell us Giannis still visits the neighborhood often. Many now want to claim even the smallest share of his success, whatever the real story may be. In a cafe-bar just behind the court, a group of Sepolia locals watch the game on a big screen.<\/p>\n
![\"victory-in-the-streets-where-giannis-was-raised2\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/5d36a9de10560bdc338dfad19680a87c_Sepolia-Giannis-11.jpg\")
French player Loic Mbakop pictured with local children. The Antetokounmpo court is both a draw for basketball fans and a playground for kids dreaming of the NBA. [Konstantinos Georgopoulos]<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one really knows how much Giannis has helped the neighborhood, what he\u2019s done for entire families. These things are never written anywhere,\u201d says Antonis Selevetakis, a former board member of the Sepolia sports club Triton, speaking to Kathimerini. \u201cToday he might give us a great victory, maybe even a cup for the country. We\u2019re all very proud \u2013 what more can we say?\u201d he remarks, pulling out photos of himself with Giannis. \u201cI\u2019ve known him since he was a kid. With that height and that physique, I always thought basketball was the only path for him. As for the rest \u2013 he tells that story better than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game ends. With a ticket to the Final Four secured, Giannis from Sepolia is a hero.<\/p>\n
\u201cA hero for all of Greece,\u201d says Tzikas, back at Kivotos. \u201cI remember,\u201d he recalls, \u201cthey once played in Lagadas, northeast Thessaloniki, against Ermis. Most of the team flew up by plane. Giannis and Thanasis went by KTEL intercity bus. That\u2019s when I think the Americans first saw him. Today, he flies by private charter \u2013 he and his whole family.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s late, and the cafe is closing. \u201cWho would have imagined it? Giannis from Sepolia, bringing home the cup. If we make the final, I\u2019ll bring out a big screen so we can all watch together,\u201d he says, taking one last drag from his cigarette.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Driving toward Sepolia, northwestern Athens, it\u2019s impossible not to think of the humble years Giannis Antetokounmpo spent in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,7228,10490,6213,85],"class_list":["post-138280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-in-depth","tag-society","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}