Giannis returns in cash to his controversial gesture towards LeBron!

Often considered the successor to LeBron James in recent years, Giannis Antetokounmpo had assumed this status with a controversial celebration against the King. A celebration that he has finally just explained with…unexpected arguments!

Like all great players, he tends to shine brightly in the face of big adversity. No wonder, then, that Giannis Antetokounmpo pull out all the stops when he faces LeBron James. On December 19, 2019, he had for example compiled 34 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists in 32 minutes against the King Lakers. On fire, he even allowed himself… to put on a crown following his 5th 3-point shot of the evening:

🔥 5 3PM FOR GIANNIS 🔥

The Greek Freak (30 PTS) is up to a career-high from behind the arc!#FearTheDeer we @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/YT94pDmsuJ

— NBA (@NBA) December 20, 2019

Giannis calms the game on his coronation against LeBron

By daring to proclaim himself king in front of LeBron’s eyes, Giannis had inevitably caused a huge buzz on social networks at the time. For many, this gesture was akin to a real transfer of power between the Bucks star and his elder. And yet, according to the Greek Freak, this sequence did not deserve such an interpretation at all, as he claimed during his recent appearance in NBA Today :

Today I learned Giannis’ last name means “The Crown Has Returned From Overseas”… and I love it https://t.co/qIcHhVXLXE

— RA (@RApollos) September 21, 2022

First of all, it had nothing to do with LeBron. It was simply a reference to my last name. “Ante” means crown. Tokounmpo was my father’s Nigerian surname, and we mixed it all together so that it basically meant « King Tokounmpo ». But literally, it is “the crown that returns from beyond the seas”.

A version that may seem a bit far-fetched in the eyes of some, but on which Giannis did not want to joke at all. Enough to definitively extinguish the fire that he had been able to start three years earlier:

In my village, I am a prince! And don’t laugh, I’m very serious. I have royal blood in me. My brothers and I will have to take care of our small village of 1,000 inhabitants when my parents can no longer.

Proud of his Nigerian origins, Giannis Antetokounmpo also refers to it when justifying his self-coronation against LeBron James. After the “Greek Freak”, he therefore risks sooner or later receiving the prestigious nickname of “Greek King”!