NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is getting as candid as he’s ever been about his journey to where he is today in a new Prime Video documentary, aptly-titled Giannis: The Marvelous Journey.

Though the 29-year-old and his family’s story has been told in many different forms, including the 2022 Disney+ scripted film Rise, this is the first time that a project is coming with direct and massive involvement from the athlete himself. In a recent interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act, he admitted that he wasn’t sure if now was the right time for a project of this sort.

“I’ll be very honest with you. … I didn’t know if this was the right time to come up with a documentary because athletes [usually] do this later in their career to kind of highlight moments that made them who they are throughout their life,” Anteokounmpo told Shadow and Act. “But I found that after a conversation with my family, I kind of view this as Chapter 1. ‘What have we done to this point? How did we get to this point? What sacrifice was made? What did you do, Mom? What did Dad do for us? What did we do? How did we got here?’ We decided, ‘OK we’re going to talk about it. We’ll come together as a family, talk about it. And then maybe later, 10 years, I might even come up with a Chapter 2. We can highlight more things and moments throughout our life. And maybe that [will] be good too.”

Antetokounmpo also explained that a major driving force was that he wanted to tell his own story. “I just wanted fans to see my story through my own words,” he said. ” I love storytelling. Sometimes, when I have people talk about my story and my family story … [it’s] not in the way that we would want them to talk about it. So I think it was fun just coming together as a family and putting this out there. I hope people see us in a different light, people take stock of me. I tried to learn as much as I can from people. It’s a journey, [and] I hope people can do the same.”

The documentary features poignant and pivotal family moments that are recalled by Giannis; three of his four brothers, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex; and his mother, Veronica. His brothers speak about him being in protective big brother mode, despite being so young himself.

“Growing up, I noticed how to be able to one day achieve something and then you have to go back the next day to try and do it again,” he said while discussing sharing those vulnerable moments on screen. “That was my life. That was my parents’ life. I saw them every single day working [toward that]. … You know, that hunger and drive. It’s in me. And you keep pushing forward. Because that’s what I know. … I don’t know any better, and I’m happy that I am that way. I’m happy that things [like] pay, bright lights, they don’t excite me. It’s almost like I’ve been here before … and I’ve never been here. I’m happy that I’m able to carry myself the way I carry myself. My dad always wanted me to be a better version of him. And I want the same for my kids. I don’t want my kids to see a tool … or a person accomplishing things in his life and take things for granted and don’t treat people with respect. I want them to be better than me. That’s a very good question, man. I saw this my whole life. My parents … they had nothing. All they had was us. They tried to put as much love, discipline and principles in us to be the best men that we could be.”

The film also puts a bit of focus on the NBA star landing in Milwaukee and creating a home there and how it panned out (as opposed to landing in an NBA franchise in a bigger city that may be known to someone who has never been to the United States).

“I think it did help me,” Antetokounmpo said while thinking about getting his start in the Midwest city. “To be honest with you, I really believe in myself, but you never know how life works. I really believe in myself that everywhere they would have put me, I would have learned how to swim with sharks. At my age at 18, to [being] able to come to a different country, a city I never been before and play with players that I look up to, and [having] the terminology [and] basketball lingo that I didn’t understand … I was 18. I was a kid. And they threw me out there with the sharks and I was able to swim.”

Overall, he was pleased with where he landed. “But I’m happy that I was in Milwaukee,” he said. “I’m happy there weren’t lot of things to do. One, it’s a basketball city. Obviously, back then the Bucks were the biggest thing in Wisconsin and Milwaukee. But it’s not a lot of things you can do. You can only focus on your game and try to keep on getting better, then go back home. The weather is extremely cold. In the summer, there’s a little bit more fun things to do. But not a lot. Giving an18-year-old, a kid, this access, this classroom, fame … [not everyone] would be able to handle it. You can put them in the middle of nowhere and I don’t think they would be able to handle it. But those things did not excite me. Never in my life. I just wanted to do what I do, and I didn’t want my kids to go through what I had to go through in my life. And the moment I accomplished that, I just had to keep on pushing. That was the thing to do that excited me. Better education … my brothers [being] here … a better life, you know … seeing all the sacrifices that my parents had to do that they were paid off … that excited me.”

As for what’s next? Ultimately, it’s about pushing forward.

“You’ve got to hustle. You’ve got to [have] foundation. …You have to keep on pushing forward.”

Giannis: The Marvelous Journey is streaming now on Prime Video.

Giannis: The Marvelous Journey

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