Giannis Antetokounmpo Says He’s Never Bought a Pair of Sneakers

A common story among many professional athletes is not being able to afford the popular sneaker releases during their upbringing. For Milwaukee Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, he took things a step further by confirming he’s never purchased a pair of shoes before.

On the latest episode of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping, Antetokounmpo told host Joe La Puma that he went from his parents only being able to afford sneakers that cost around $5 to $10 when he was growing up in Greece to sharing one pair of Nike Kobe 4s with his older brother, Thanasis, to finally landing an endorsement deal with the Swoosh in 2013 when he was drafted in the NBA.

“To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever bought a pair of sneakers,” Antetokounmpo said. “I came to the NBA when I was 18. Prior to that, I did not have no money to my name. You know, I’m fortunate enough to be with Nike for 13, 14 years now. They’ve given me a lot of heat for free. I’m happy for that but whatever we had as kids, we shared. Because that’s how we were raised.”

In the episode, Antetokounmpo also talked about possibly owning the only size 17 pair of the friends-and-family-exclusive Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 Low, the last sneaker releases he had to hunt down, and broke down his “Warning Label” Nike Zoom Freak 7 designed for the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Check out the latest episode of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping with Antetokounmpo below and see his first-ever sneaker purchases.