This might not be the right time to bring it up in Milwaukee, considering there's an active tension on whether or not he'll remain with the Bucks, but it's hard not to love Giannis Antetokounmpo's underdog story. From selling goods in the streets of Athens and sharing shoes with his brother to allegedly making $120 million in one year, Giannis' story is proof that the American Dream is still alive, even if it's as difficult as ever to break through that glass ceiling.
That makes it all the more compelling when Giannis peels back the curtain on how he's building his wealth and applying the same mentality that made him an NBA superstar to his business ambitions off the court.
During a social media interview with The School of Hard Knocks, the 31-year-old superstar discussed his dreams of becoming a billionaire, the most money he ever made in a single year, where he came from, and how lessons from Kobe Bryant still aid him today.
His advice for professional athletes and for the common person is a little bit different. For celebrities like him, Giannis says your agent, financial advisor, and lawyer should not be connected, because they could take advantage of you. But for everyone else? It's a matter of mindset, per Giannis.
"Rich is what you see. Wealth is what you don't see," Giannis said. "Extreme wealth is what you don't see... [what you] haven't spent and kept investing."
Among the gems that Giannis dropped during the interview, the most interesting and applicable to the rest of us is the lesson he learned from Kobe Bryant about basketball that he applies to life.
How Kobe Bryant's MVP influence put Giannis Antetokounmpo on a path to his billionaire dreams.
Let's be real — unless you're a superstar, you can't relate to the physical gifts that Giannis Antetokounmpo brings to his basketball career. But what you can learn from him is his mentality and how hard work, discipline, and self-affirmation could set you on a path to making your dreams a reality:
"I had a conversation with Kobe once. I said, 'Kobe, give me a challenge,' and he said, 'Giannis, your challenge is to win MVP.' I used to carry around this jug of water, and in the cap, I used to write MVP. I see it every day, and the next year, I won MVP. Then the next year, I won another MVP. Speak things into existence, man, because your brain listens to you, and once your brain listens to you, it does everything that it needs to do to make that happen."
Giannis speaks to a greater understanding of life and aspirations. Whether it's in your career, financial goals, family life, mental health, or anything in between, putting faith in yourself and not losing sight of your objectives puts you on a pathway to achieving your dreams. It's not going to happen unless you make it happen, and the only way you're going to make it happen is if you will it into existence.
The Greek Freak has big dreams on and off the court, but the only way he achieves those dreams is by working tirelessly for them. Very few people get to see the amount of work that Giannis puts toward his aspirations of generational wealth and a Hall of Fame legacy in the NBA.
Sure, there are pregame shootarounds and post-practice interviews where he'll talk about it, but no one besides Giannis, his trainers, and his inner circle sees the way that he's working on his game in the middle of the night or early in the morning... until he shares a clip on his Instagram story, that is.
What you do when no one is watching will determine how far you will grow in your chosen path. For Giannis, that comes out in his pursuit of a championship, which is the whole reason we're in a trade saga today. If he weren't so laser-focused on his ultimate goals, how would he ever get there?
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