Giannis Antetokounmpo says he would've been Duke basketball player

Giannis Antetokounmpo told For The Win's Bryan Kalbrosky this week that he sometimes thinks about what going to college would have been like. And the Duke basketball program would have been his top choice.

"Definitely Duke," the 28-year-old Milwaukee Bucks star said in the interview. "I like Duke because of the players that came out of that program. You usually see a lot of four men that don't fit the mold. I think I'm one of those guys. I'm 6-foot-11, and I can handle the ball and pass and get in the paint.

"You see players like that who came out of that program: Zion Williamson, Jabari Parker, Jayson Tatum, and Brandon Ingram. Not only are they very good basketball-wise, but academically it's also a great school."

Instead of going the college route, Giannis Antetokounmpo went straight from a pro league in Greece to hearing his name at No. 15 overall at the 2013 NBA Draft at age 18. Then he went from averaging only 6.8 points as a rookie to more than 20 points per game a few years later and a career-high 31.2 points this go-round.

The two-time MVP (2019, 2020) and one-time NBA champion (2021) is again a top-shelf MVP candidate, along with one of the Duke basketball products he mentioned above: Boston Celtics sensation Jayson Tatum. And he's a teammate to an NBA Blue Devil in fellow Bucks starter Grayson Allen.

GIANNIS DIME ➡️ GRAYSON FOR THE WIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/tiOqHeIXiP
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 5, 2023

Had Antetokounmpo played for Duke, he would've been a freshman, presumably of the one-and-done variety, for the veteran-laden 2012-13 Blue Devils, who came up one win shy of reaching the Final Four.

Although that didn't happen, perhaps he deserves to be an honorary member of The Brotherhood from here on out because of his comments this week and his wealth of success over the years.

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