Why me?
You ask that question all the time like, why was I the person to represent
the family, and represent the country, represent the Bucks and the city
and the NBA.
Why Giannis from Sepolia, Athens, Greece
born to two illegal parents from Nigeria?
Why me?
Like, I’m not supposed to be here.
You say that because you never want to take it for granted.
I’m just trying to be myself.
Trying to be real as much as possible.
Be authentic.
I’m not trying to be somebody that I’m not.
If I can inspire people by being myself.
That’s amazing.
(funny singing)
What do you call a cow in the roller coaster?
Milkshake. (laughing)
The NBA is a business, but I just try to come here, you know,
with a smile and enjoy the day, enjoy going out there,
practicing with my coworkers and my teammates.
(laughing)
I made you, I created you. I created this monster.
I enjoy the process, but I’m serious when I have to be serious.
(basketball sounds)
My first couple of years, wasn’t vocal at all,
I wasn’t saying a word basically to nobody.
I was so quiet. I was young, I came in I was 18.
What if I say the wrong thing?
Then I kind of thought about it that, ok, now I’ve got to be more vocal.
But I realized that’s not... that’s not me.
You know, I lead by example.
Words are words.
Actions speak louder.
As a leader I set that example. I’m here to work on my day off.
Now if you asked me what I worked on today,
I can tell you.
Jump shots, hooks, post work, post fades.
But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter.
With the thousands of reps and hours that I’ve spent doing that,
I know that my instincts are going to tell me what to do.
I just let my instincts take over so that when I go to the game,
the game's easy.
Not everybody is like me.
Not everyone wants to work on their day off.
But I just feel like people see that.
I’ve realized that that’s how I lead.
By example and by setting the tone.
When we won the championship, it was amazing.
I want to feel that again, and I want people in the city
to feel that again.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that.
(trainer coaching)
At the same time I’m mature enough to understand that
if it doesn’t happen again, I’m ok with myself.
I’m very secure as a person.
I've realized that there's nothing that you can tell me right now
that's going to motivate me more than I motivate myself.
There's no amount of money, there's no titles, there's no nothing.
I just try to stay as humble as I can and hungry.
Obviously we can talk about basketball all day long,
but personally I just want to be the best version of myself.
I want to reach my full potential. I want to leave a mark off the court
off the court as big as the mark I left on the court.
It’s amazing to be a role model to people,
but it’s even more amazing to like,
inspire people.
So you're gonna dunk on me one day, ok?
Or you're gonna shoot a three in my face one day. (laughing)
I wake up and want to be a better version of myself.
That’s an amazing feeling.
All that, I do it without trying to be something else.
I just try to be myself.