Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived in Miami to join the NBA’s Heat on Thursday, taking inspiration from Lionel Messi, a sporting legend who launched his own new chapter of success with a move to South Florida.
Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player from Greece who led the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 title, said Messi was the kind of player — like LeBron James — who produced the “blueprint” for sporting greatness.
“You’ve just got to follow,” he said. “It’s hard. You have to be disciplined. You have to be dedicated to your craft. But it’s there. And if you want to follow, you follow. If you don’t want to follow, you go home.”
Antetokounmpo watched Messi and Argentina book their place in the World Cup final with a victory over England on Wednesday in Atlanta.
Then he headed to Miami to be introduced on Thursday as the Heat’s newest star in the wake of his trade from the Bucks.
“I was thinking about his path,” Antetokounmpo said, recalling Messi’s trajectory from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and, in 2023, to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami in a move that many predicted would see him fade from the elite scene.
Instead, the 39-year-old is on the cusp of a second straight World Cup crown.
