After making a handful of contentious comments over the offseason, you know that Giannis Antetokounmpo just piled a lot of pressure on himself heading into the new season.
Be that as it may, the former back-to-back MVP is not the type to shy away from high expectations. This is exactly why Giannis is working hard this summer to make sure that he’s in the best possible shape of his life for 2023-24.
Giannis Antetokounmpo to link up with 12-time All-Star
In a recent appearance on the "48 minutes" podcast, Giannis provided a bit of a preview of how he intends to spend the remainder of the summer to prepare for the grueling season ahead. As it turns out, this includes a pre-arranged workout session with Hall of Fame big man Hakeem Olajuwon:
“This season for the training camp I have a trip that I’m going to go down to Houston and try to work out with Hakeem Olajuwon. … I love his game and if I can kind of take a few things from his game or learn anything from the few days I’m going to spend with him it’s going to be a blessing.”
When it comes to playing down low, Olajuwon is one of the greatest to ever do it. The Houston Rockets legend has a decorated resume under his belt, which also includes no less than two NBA championships — a feat that Antetokounmpo himself will be gunning for this coming season.
Apart from the fact that Giannis will certainly learn a lot from Olajuwon in terms of his low-post game, among others, Antetokounmpo is also looking forward to the opportunity to work out with one of his childhood idols:
“It’s a guy I have looked up to my whole life,” Giannis said. “It’s a guy that my parents look up to because he was the number one guy in Nigeria. He was the best athlete in Nigeria. He was the best athlete in Africa. So just being able to spend some time with him and study the game with him and learn from the greats, it’s a blessing.”
Antetokounmpo may have grown up in Greece, but he has never been shy about pronouncing his Nigerian roots. Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the greatest Nigerian athletes of all time, which is why Giannis looked up to this man growing up.
At this point, the Bucks superstar still holds Hakeem in very high regard, and this upcoming link-up should be beneficial for Giannis.
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