The mother and younger brother of NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo were granted honorary Greek citizenship at a ceremony in Athens on Thursday.
Veronica and Alex Antetokounmpo were granted Greek citizenship in a decision signed on September 6 by the country’s president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, and were sworn in at a ceremony hosted by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion.
“The face of the whole Antetokounmpo family reflects the Greece that struggles, overcomes its difficulties and keeps its family united,” Mitsotakis posted on Twitter after the ceremony.
According to Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini, their citizenship is honorary, as neither are formally eligible under current Greek law.
Veronica and her husband Charles migrated to Greece in 1991 from Lagos, Nigeria. The family’s original surname was Adetokunbo. But when Giannis applied for formal Greek papers, “Adetokunbo” was transliterated into the Greek “Αντετοκούνμπο,” which was then spelled “Antetokounmpo” in English.
Alex Antetokounmpo, the youngest of the four basketball playing brothers, was born in Greece in 2001 and spent the first 12 years of his life in Athens before relocating to the United States with his family when Giannis was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo were granted Greek citizenship in 2013 and Kostas in 2016.
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