Giannis Antetokounmpo Explains Why He Passed Adidas For Nike

After the sneaker company refused to sign his brother, Thanasis, Nike did.

Brotherly love kept Giannis Antetokounmpo from signing a sneaker deal with Adidas.

In a recent podcast, the “Greek Freak” admitted that due to Adidas not having a contract for his brother, Thanasis, he declined to sign and headed to Nike, which was glad to include his brother in a deal.

According to Bleacher Report, on a recent episode of The Thanalysis Show, older brother Giannis explained it all.

“He brought the contract and put it in front of me, and I’m like, ‘OK, great, where is my brother’s?'” Antetokounmpo said. “And he was like, ‘We’re not going to sign your brother’s today. You’re going to sign yours, and then we’re going to bring your brother in a week to sign his.’ And I was like, ‘Uh uh, no thank you.'”

When he met with the rep, knowing that his family needed money, he would have been willing to sign anything, but his brother needed to be included, and that was the only way that signature would have been attached to that contract.

Yet, when he took the same proposal to Nike, insisting that he and his brother were a package deal, the rep was on board with that plan.

“It was my turn to speak and I said that it’s important for me for it to be a family thing,” Antetokounmpo insisted. “When you take me, you take my family, my brother, my mom. And she was like, ‘Yeah, sure, whatever.’ After that, we’ve been with Nike, and she’s been by our side ever since.”

Giannis signed with Nike in 2013, when he was far from being a sure thing. Adidas’ loss has been Nike’s gain, as “The Greek Freak” has won an NBA championship, two NBA most valuable player awards, and has been the subject of best-selling book as well as a movie.