Disney Releases Trailer For Film ‘Rise’ starring Giannis Antetokounmpo 

Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, is one of the most well-known basketball players of the last ten years.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The Disney film, starring real-life brothers Uche and Ral Agada as Giannis and Thanasis, follows the Antetokounmpos, a Nigerian immigrant family attempting to create a home in Greece while facing daily deportation threats.

Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo would play basketball with a local team as Charles (Dayo Okeniyi) and Vera (Yetide Badaki) Antetokounmpo sailed their family’s daily storms. The youngsters quickly realise their outstanding basketball abilities, eventually becoming world champions.

Last October, Disney announced that Giannis will act as executive producer for the Bernie Goldmann-produced picture directed by Akin Omotoso.

According to the trailer’s official synopsis: “After emigrating to Greece from Nigeria, Vera and Charles Antetokounmpo struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation.

With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn.

When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, encouraged by their father, the brothers would sneak away to play basketball with a local youth team.

Latecomers to the sport, they discovered their great abilities on the basketball court and worked hard to become world class athletes. With the help of an agent, Giannis entered the NBA draft in 2013 in a long-shot prospect that would change not only his life but the life of his entire family.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time NBA MVP, is one of the most well-known basketball players of the last ten years. He won a championship with Milwaukee in 2021.

Watch the Trailer: