NBA Star Giannis Antetokounmpo on How Parenting Has Brought Out His ‘Soft Side'

Yahoo

19-05-2025

Fact checked by Sarah Scott
As a dad of four, Giannis Antetokounmpo has unsurprisingly dealt with some funny diaper moments. One of those is a recent late-night diaper change for his newborn Aria, born in early May.
'I couldn't see and she was fussy and I tried to change her diaper. All of a sudden, I started feeling something wet on my forearm and my palm,' he tells Parents. 'But it comes with the territory; it comes with being a parent.'
With all the diapers his family has needed throughout the years, it makes sense that the NBA star—also dad to Liam, 5, Maverick, 3, and Eva, 20 months—is partnering with Huggies to promote the new Little Movers diapers. In an adorable campaign video, Eva joins her dad on the court and tries to copy his moves.
'Eva was able to show a little bit of her basketball skills,' the Milwaukee Bucks star jokes. 'I was very happy to do something like that with my daughter, which was a first; I've never done anything like that before.'
Still, working with his family is unlikely to come as a surprise to fans. Since joining the league in 2013, Antetokounmpo has often spoken in interviews about the importance of family in his life and the joy of being a dad.
Antetokounmpo and three of his brothers—Thanasis, Kostas, and Alex—were born and raised in Athens, Greece, where his Nigerian parents immigrated to in 1991. Their older son, Francis, remained in Nigeria.
'There was times that my mom wasn't able to afford diapers, and she used to use bed sheets as diapers for me and my brothers,' he says. 'I always had that in my mind.'
For their first child, Antetokounmpo recalls he and his wife, Mariah Riddlesprigger, holding a big baby shower where they were gifted tons of baby essentials, including toys, books, diapers, and wipes.
'It took me back to the time that my mom wasn't able to afford all these things, and there weren't a lot of people that helped her,' he says. 'So me and my wife decided, instead of having a baby shower for our second son Maverick, we tried to raise money for as many diapers as we could and donate to people in need.'
Support is needed as 1 in 2 American families can't afford enough diapers. This makes babies vulnerable to rashes, urinary tract infections, and more doctor visits. Antetokounmpo and his wife have since supported the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, to which Huggies is donating $100,000 worth of diapers.
'It's something that makes me happy, something that makes my family proud, and something that I think when my kids get older, they can see that as an example and copy it,' he says of giving back.
While his NBA career means he's on the road often, Antetokounmpo is a mush when he's back home.
'I love hugging my kids and kissing them and cuddling them and playing with them and wrestling them,' he says. 'Growing up, I didn't have that as much from my dad. So this is a soft side of me with my kids that a lot of people don't know about. I want to keep it that way, just for my kids.'
'But also,' he continues, 'I think I'm a dad that's straight to the point, big on respect, like respect your mom, respect your dad, respect your elders, and making sure they're grateful and appreciative of all the things.'
The 30-year-old also highlights his wife, whom he turns to for parenting advice when needed.
'I have an incredible wife that pretty much shows me the ropes of how to take care of my kids,' he says, adding that he also turns to his mother, Veronica, and his older brother, Thanasis, who has two kids.
Overall, his mission is for his kids to feel the same comfort he felt growing up. 'Even though I wasn't raised with a lot, I felt loved; I felt a home full of joy,' he says. 'It was always lively in the house.'
Antetokounmpo's four kids may have all been born in the United States, but he is making it a point to teach them about their Nigerian and Greek roots.
'I try as much as I can to speak Greek to them. It's a very hard language to pick up,' he says. 'But we spend a lot of time in Greece, and do a lot of summer camps. Sometimes they go for a month or two to Greek summer schools, so they could try to pick up as much Greek as they can.'
It's a work in progress. 'It's easier when I go to Greece because I'm not gonna lie to you, I sometimes forget my Greek. I'm in the States for 7, 8, 9 months at a time, and my wife is American, so I don't speak a lot of Greek. But anytime we go to Greece, or even now, when I speak to them in Greek, they understand everything. Like when I tell them, 'Come here,' 'How was your day?' 'How was school?' 'Do you want to go play basketball?' 'It's time to go to bed'—all those things in Greek, they understand. But they cannot speak back to me.'
While Antetokounmpo's father passed away in 2017, his kids learn about their Nigerian roots by spending time with his mother.
'That also helps to kind of understand the Nigerian culture and what Nigeria is about,' he says.
Antetokounmpo may be regarded as one of the greatest NBA players of all time, but you won't find evidence of his fame at home. He has a rule: no basketball photos of him hanging on the walls. The only ones you'll see are family-related.
'Anything that has to do with fame and attention, it's not in my house,' he says. 'I don't want my kids to grow up in that environment. I want them to feel like home is always their base; whenever they come back home, they can feel safe, they can feel comfortable, they can be confident, they can be themselves, and it's something that I'm going to continue to do.'
Although his kids are still too young to fully understand who he is, Antetokounmpo hopes watching him play as they grow will inspire them.
'I don't really mind if they're good at basketball. I don't mind if they are doctors or lawyers or engineers or whatever they choose to be. I just want them to fall in love with the process of getting better in whatever they choose to do,' he says. 'That's what I've done my whole career. I've always tried to improve my game, my leadership, and I just want them to be able to copy that. It might not be basketball; it might be something else that they love, but I want them to wake up every single day and figure out ways to improve and enjoy the process and love what they do.'
Read the original article on Parents