What position does Giannis Antetokounmpo play?

Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most popular players in basketball today. You can pull any casual NBA fan from the road and chances are they know who the Milwaukee Bucks star is. The former two-time NBA MVP has epitomized what representing the league means. With his freakish athleticism and exceptional length, Giannis is in a class of players who are deemed to be unguardable.

The ‘Greek Freak’ has also been a Defensive Player of the Year, proving that he can be lethal on both offense and defense. Most NBA coaches have admitted that Giannis is the toughest player to gameplan for as he is too quick for a center and too big and strong for a guard or a wing. So this raises a very important question which is, what position does Giannis Antetokounmpo play?

Giannis Antetokounmpo Position

Well, the answer to that question is not as simple as it may seem since Giannis is one of the rare positionless players we have in the league today. Giannis can play point guard as well as center. In other words, he is truly the coach’s dream. Not only can he play all five positions on offense, but he is also versatile enough to guard all five positions defensively. Giannis has shown this in the past.

In 2015-16, for a brief period of 15 games, Jason Kidd experimented with playing Giannis as the point guard. While it didn’t work great for the team, Giannis showed his versatility by being able to adapt to the responsibilities of a point guard. In the 2021 finals, Giannis was asked to play center by his coach Mike Budenholzer and he delivered. DeAndre Ayton was a complete mismatch for him and this coaching adjustment led to the Bucks winning the championship. But as for his listed position, Giannis is listed as Power Forward by the Milwaukee Bucks.

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What number does Giannis Antetokounmpo wear?

Giannis Antetokounmpo wears the number 34. Many might have different reasons as to why he chose to wear that number. Paying homage to Hakeem Olajuwon? Paying homage to Shaquille O’Neal? Or maybe paying homage to both who preceded Giannis as the great big men of their time? No! Giannis has a very unique reason as to why he chose to wear number 34.

Giannis’ parents were born one year apart. His father was born in 1963 and his mother was born in 1964. So Giannis took the last digits of their birth years and made it his jersey number, 34! Similarly, his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo wears the number 43, which is Giannis’ number reversed.

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