Giannis just speedran the NBA star playbook
The Greek Freak has always been a different type of NBA star. Last week he redefined what that means.
Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we break down the intersection of sports and money—with an extra bit of humor and opinion. Today we’re talking about the evolution of a humble star.
For most of his 13-year NBA career, stardom seemed effortless for Giannis Antetokounmpo. His athleticism and versatility made him a force on the court, while his charisma and honesty made him a darling off it1. Excelling from one of the league’s smallest markets, he kept a lower profile than many of his peers.
As he approaches the business end of his career, however, the Greek Freak seems to be moving more toward the archetype of the Star Athlete. And that shift entered hyper speed in the last two weeks. In that span, Antetokounmpo:
- Became a minority owner in a pro sports team ✅
- Launched a candy brand ✅
- Invested in a food delivery startup ✅
- Starred in a nationally-televised diaper ad ✅
- Angered fans with a trade deadline flirtation ✅
- Announced he was staying with a Wolf of Wall Street meme ✅
- Battled a calf strain ✅
- Bowed out of the All-Star Game2 ✅
- Partnered with a controversial betting* company ✅
What a run!
Most of that list is standard fare for NBA stars—light work for LeBron or KD—minus that last one, which instantly put Giannis in a league of his own.
Antetokounmpo announced his partnership with Kalshi on Feb. 6 with this ☝️ five-word X post: “We all on Kalshi now.” It was accompanied by vague wording about finally forming his own opinions, and a black and white photo of Giannis in a turtleneck, which looks like a screengrab from a Cialis ad.
For those of you not familiar with Kalshi or its prediction market peers, these companies have basically created a loophole into nationwide sports betting by packaging wagers as futures trading. That lets them skirt the state-by-state gaming regulations that govern legal sportsbooks, and exempts them from state taxes. They offer “trades” on many things, but sports has become the overwhelming part of their business.
If their arrival sounds disruptive, their marketing approach has been even more jarring. Kalshi advertised that it was “legal sports betting” while claiming that it definitely wasn’t legal sports betting. The X accounts for both Kalshi and its main rival Polymarket peddle in trolling and falsehoods, often posting blatant lies or childish jokes about athletes themselves. Here’s an example, about Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick.
Insider trading seems both common and occasionally celebrated on these platforms, without the consumer protections that exist in other types of trading, and there are myriad legal challenges happening at both the federal and state level. Those, of course, are separate from the widening federal probe about bet-rigging that involves current and former NBA players.
Into all this jumped the NBA’s most humble star, one of the first major team sports athletes to openly endorse Kalshi or Polymarket.
The reaction from fans and media members was swift. The conspiracy minded immediately latched onto the idea that Giannis’s trade demands, betting action on Kalshi markets about his future, and the shareholder announcement were all part of one large crypto-style rug pull.3 The chatter got so loud that ESPN insider Brian Windhorst felt the need to publicly shoot it down.
In a recent episode of the Nothing But Respect podcast, Harry Krinsky called the partnership Antetokounmpo’s “Breaking Bad turn,” then re-nicknamed him the Green Freak. Yahoo Sports! columnist Dan Wolken tweeted that Giannis was putting on a “masterclass in image torching.” The first comment is, “Yeah I kinda hate the dude now.”
Some of that was backlash to the Kalshi deal, of course. But some of that has been building over time. If you’d asked me two months ago who would be the first NBA star to become a Kalshi shareholder, Giannis would have been low on the list. But I was equally surprised by the way his frustrations with the Bucks and his teammates spilled over publicly this season. Or how he booed fans during a loss in January. Or how he refused to take accountability for his part in trade talks earlier this month, saying instead that his agent “can have any conversation he wants.”
So what’s next for Giannis? At this rate I’m a little worried about what he does in March. Maybe there’s a prediction market somewhere that is taking bets. If so, it might look like this.
Matt’s ⚡Take: After watching the Bucks win their first championship in 50+ years and seeing Giannis take a seat on the bench with his NBA Finals hat on and tears in his eyes, I thought, I’m OK with Giannis taking over the league from LeBron, this guy is as real as it gets.
Unfortunately the LeBron comparison has panned out in every way except for the eight straight Finals appearances. Every January since it’s been: where is Giannis going next? He has to get out of Milwaukee, he’ll never win another ring there, he can’t shoot (still), he runs coaches out of town, etc.
I think he’s fallen more into the “Tragic Star Athlete” archetype, and for a baller with his style it may be tough to reinvent himself enough on the court to get out of it. Now if he goes on another Shaq-esque run and powers the Bucks through the Eastern conference I’ll be happy to eat my words. In a league of foul-baiters, it would be refreshing to see someone go full beast mode again.
I’m not sure who he’s taking business advice from these days, but I think Giannis could benefit from a short (insert failing streaming service here) documentary reminding everyone where he came from, how he got here and the blessings he’s given out on the way. He is a guy you want to root for, but he’s at great risk of giving in to the dark side of the force and it seems like he’s lost the high ground.
On the most recent Sporticast episode, Eben and Scott spoke with NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell about the tech companies that want to put an autonomous car into a race like the Daytona 500 👇
Photo Credit: Design/Grace Hughes, Photos via @Giannis_An34/Twitter, @Giannis_An34/Instagram, Go Puff, Photos by Alex Slitz/Getty Images, Michael Chisholm/Getty Images
Club Sportico is a community organized by Sportico, a digital media company launched in 2020 to cover the business side of sports. You can read breaking news, smart analysis, and in-depth features from Eben, Jacob and their colleagues at Sportico.com, and listen to the Sporticast podcast wherever you get your audio. Contact us at club@sportico.com.
He’ll still coach the celebrity game though!