"Used to sell watches" - Giannis Antetokounmpo sports $37,511 Breitling watch as Bucks star opens up about his pre-NBA struggles
Giannis Antetokounmpo's rise to stardom has been inspirational for people across the board. From selling watches to feed his family and struggling with racism in Greece, the Milwaukee Bucks star is a millionaire now who can wear a watch worth thousands of dollars.
In his X post on Saturday, Antetokounmpo made a big revelation about his life before he was an NBA player. In the post, Antetokounmpo wrote that he used a sell watches before he came into the league. In an endorsement post for the Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling, he wrote about his past profession.
“Used to sell watches and now I have a few of my own! Thank you Breitling.”
The 2021 NBA champion is a known watch enthusiast. He signed the endorsement deal with Breitling in 2022.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has a very heartbreaking story when it comes to his struggles with poverty. In 2020, the Bucks star told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that he even struggled to get a two-time meal in Greece.
“Sometimes I used to go to school, no breakfast. Not sometimes, every time. Come back, there was sometimes food, sometimes no food. So now you have to go to practice. I used to come back from practice at 11 and have my first meal then. But we definitely did not eat right."
Antetokounmpo also said that it was his agent who helped him with his food, but he couldn’t eat it all. He said that he only had a quarter of the plate because he had the habit of leaving rest for his brothers since he was a child.
Today, four of the five Antetokounmpo brothers have played in the NBA and three of them are NBA champions.
Giannis Antetokounmpo's career earnings include NBA salary and endorsement deals
Giannis Antetokounmpo has now played 11 seasons in the NBA. Since coming to the NBA, Antetokounmpo has garnered massive wealth in his bank account. According to Forbes, in 2024, the Milwaukee Bucks star has a worth of $111 million.
Despite his massive NBA salary, Antetokounmpo receives more from endorsements. In 2024, he earned $46 million through his salary, whereas he earned a massive $65 million through his endorsements. He recently signed a massive three-year / $175,883,400 deal with his team. The deal will pay him an average of $58 million from 2025-26 to 2017-28 season.
Today, the two-time MVP has endorsement deals with big market giants like Amazon, Google, JBL, Meta, PepsiCo, Walt Disney, Unilever, Nike, LegalZoom.com Inc., Mytilineos A.A., Come Ready Foods LLC, and Breitling.
In 2024, Giannis Antetokounmpo is ranked 5th among the highest-paid athletes in the world. The life of Greek Frek has been an inspiration for many across the world. In 2022, Disney released a film that was titled “Rise” and the movie told the story of Antetokounmpo and his journey from Greece to a millionaire in America.