I didn't come from nothing.
I came from everything.

People ask me all the time: “Giannis, what made you who you are?” And I always give the same answer.

I was born in Athens, Greece. My parents, Charles and Veronica, came from Nigeria with nothing. No papers. No money. No guarantees. Just a belief that their children would have a better life.

For the first 18 years of my life, I had no citizenship. Not from Nigeria. Not from Greece. I was a kid without a country. But I had a family. And that was enough.

Me and my brothers, Thanasis, Kostas, Alex, we'd wake up early and go out on the streets selling watches, CDs, whatever we could carry. We'd sell for hours. Not because we wanted to. Because we had to. Some nights, we'd come home and there was one meal. One. And we'd share it. Sometimes we didn't eat until 11 PM after basketball practice.

Thanasis and I shared one pair of basketball shoes. One pair. He'd wear them for his game, then hand them to me for mine. Still warm. That's how close we were. That's how close we still are.

Two-time MVP. Defensive Player of the Year. And in 2021, I brought a championship home to Milwaukee. 50 points in the Finals. I looked up at the sky and I thought about my dad. He passed in 2017. He never got to see it. But I know he felt it.

I've been named alongside Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as one of only three players in history to win MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year. But the trophy I'm most proud of? Being a father.

I'm very careful about what I put in my body and what I put my name on. When I looked at IM8, the clinical doses, the third-party testing, the real science behind every ingredient, I didn't just want to endorse it.

I believe in the product, and that’s exactly why I chose to invest in the company.

This wasn’t about just putting my name on something — it was about being part of what they’re building. I spent time with the product, had real conversations with the team, and made sure I understood the vision behind it.

After doing that, the decision was easy. I wanted to be involved in a deeper way — not just as a face of the brand, but as a partner who truly believes in where this is going.

I found IM8 through a conversation with David Beckham. What started as a casual mention turned into me requesting the full ingredient breakdown, the clinical data, and the NSF certification details. I don't take anything without understanding exactly what's in it and why.

For someone who puts his body through what I do, and who grew up without access to proper nutrition, the idea of a single product that replaces an entire supplement shelf wasn't just convenient. It was personal.