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Nigerian basketball star wins NBA’s most valuable player


Nigerian Basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named as the Most Valuable Player in the 2018/19 NBA season.
The 24-year-old who is a Greece and plays for Milwaukee Bucks was impressive throughout the season for his club and received 78 of the 101 possible first-place votes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is now the youngest MVP in eight years in the NBA history as he defeated last year’s winner James Harden to the award.
And after receiving the award in front of crowd, Giannis paid an emotional tribute to his late dad who migrated to Greece from Lagos in 1980s and died in 2017.
“I want to thank my dad. Obviously, my dad is not here with me.
“Two years ago, I had a goal in my head that I was going to be the best player in the league and do whatever it takes to help my team win, and I’m going to win everything.
“Every day I step on the floor, I always think of my dad and that motivates me and pushes me to play harder and move forward,” he told the crowd in California according to BBC.
Giannis Antetokounmpo grew up with three of his four brothers in the working-class district of Sepolia on the outskirts of Athens as children to a first-generation Nigerian immigrant couple.
In 2007, he followed his father’s advice and began to play basketball.
And it didn’t take long before he became one of the rising stars of the third division of Filathlitikos in the Zografou neighborhood.