What would the NBA look like without migration? #IFlyTwoFlags

Celebrated migrants of the NBA’s ‘20-’21 season

Nikola Jokić is a Serbian national who plays for the Denver Nuggets and was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in the ‘20-’21 season.

Rudy Gobert, who plays for Utah Jazz, won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021 and originally hails from Saint-Quentin, France.

The NBA Finals MVP 2021 was Greek-Nigerian, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jokić and Antetokounmpo were also both voted into the All-NBA First Team, an annual honour given to the best players in the league each season. Along with Slovenian Luka Dončić, player for Dallas Mavericks, that makes three out of the five 2021 All-NBA First Team members who are migrants.

”I represent both of my countries, Nigeria and Greece. It can be done.” - Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo is proud to fly more than two flags, representing Greece and Nigeria as well as America. He regularly expresses his love for both countries and hopes that his experiences are proof to other young people of dual nationalities that they can achieve great things.

His parents moved from Lagos to Athens in 1991, three years before he was born, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he received official Greek citizenship. Greek nationality law rules that citizenship is determined by the ethnicity or citizenship of one or both parents, but this hasn’t stopped Antetokounmpo from embracing the country he grew up in.

His surname is evidence of this, as it is the letter-for-letter translation of his parents’ Nigerian name ‘Adetokunbo’ into Greek, which he changed when he gained Greek citizenship. Antetokounmpo also received citizenship from Nigeria in 2015 and holds US citizenship as he resides in Milwaukee.

There are more than 50 multiple-nationality players currently in the NBA alongside Antetokounmpo. Some others who fly two or more flags in the NBA, not including that of the US, include:

• Steven Adams, Memphis Grizzlies - born in New Zealand, parents of Tongan and English descent

• Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns - born in the Bahamas, parents of Nigerian, Bahamian, and Jamaican descent

• Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers - born in Australia, parents of Australian and American descent

• Raul Neto, Washington Wizards - born in Brazil, parents of Italian descent

• Kelly Olynyk, Detroit Pistons - born in Canada, parents of Ukrainian descent

• Axel Toupane, Milwaukee Bucks - born in France, parents of French and Senegalese descent

• Dennis Schröder, Boston Celtics - born in Germany, parents of German and Gambian descent

• Deni Avdija, Washington Wizards - born in Israel, parents of Israeli and Serbian descent

• Rui Hachimura, Washington Wizards - born in Japan, parents of Japanese and Beninese descent

Without these players, many teams in the NBA may not have been so successful, and the sport itself definitely wouldn’t be the same.

Thirteen of the 50 top scorers of the 2021 season are foreign nationals or have mixed descent. Without them, a whopping 18,557 points wouldn’t have been scored!

The importance of migration in sports like basketball is undeniable. Whether it’s a case of simply looking at the stats and seeing how many top scorers are a product of migration or migrants themselves, or considering how many players’ lives have been changed for the better thanks to the opportunities that playing the sport has given them.

From playing pickup games in Athens to help support his family, to becoming a national basketball champion and achieving his dream, players like Antetokoumpo are proof that flying two flags can be a fantastic part of life and open up many opportunities when diversity is celebrated.