Veronica Antetokounmpo (born 7th of April 1964; Aged: 60 years old) is the mother of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks guard/forward.
Veronica was a high jumper when she was in Nigeria and did odd jobs to survive upon her arrival in Greece. She later had a cameo role in the movie Dead Europe, but today, the former athlete is happily retired and enjoying what life has to offer as the mother of notable athletes.
Summary of Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Biography
- Full Name: Veronica Antetokounmpo
- Nickname: Vero
- Gender: Female
- Date of Birth: 7th of April 1964
- Veronica Antetokounmpo s Age: 60 years old
- Ethnicity: African
- Nationality: Nigerian
- Zodiac Sign: Aries
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Widowed
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Husband: Charles Antetokounmpo
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Children: Francis, Thanasis, Kostas, Alex, and Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Height in Inches: 5 feet 0.5 inches
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Height in Centimetres: 165 cm
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Weight: 72 kg
- Famous For: Being the mother of Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Instagram: @veronica_ante3443
- Twitter: @veronica_ante34
How Old is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Mother, Veronica Antetokounmpo?
Veronica Antetokounmpo is currently 60 years old as the NBA mom was born on the 7th of April 1964. Though she recently received Greek citizenship with her children, Veronica’s place of birth is listed as the West African country, Nigerian, and she belongs to the Igbo extraction. Ethnicity-wise, she is African.
Veronica has not revealed any details about her birth family; thus, her parents are not known, and it is not equally known whether she had siblings growing up.
There is a dearth of information regarding her education, but the mother of five was a sports stand-out during her student days in Nigeria, majoring in the high jump.
Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Personal Life
Because they were never mainstream celebrities, Veronica and Charles’s love journey never caught public attention. However, reports revealed that the celebrity parents met and got married in Nigeria before leaving for Europe.
The circumstances that led to the couple’s first meeting have remained undisclosed, but since they were both athletes, many have concluded that they first crossed paths in the line of duty.
Who is Veronica Antetokounmpo’s Husband?
Veronica Antetokounmpo’s husband has been identified as Charles Antetokounmpo. Born in Nigeria in 1963, Charles is of Yoruba extraction in the country.
Just like his wife, Charles is also athletic. During his time in Nigeria, the father of five was a known footballer. However, when he moved to Greece with his wife, the former soccer player had to make do with menial jobs to cater to their needs. He majorly worked as a handyman or any other odd job that came his way.
Unfortunately, Charles did not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of his labor as the Nigerian-born footballer passed away in September 2017 at 54; his cause of death was listed as cardiac arrest.
When Did Veronica Antetokounmpo have Giannis?
Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo had their son, Giannis Sina Ougko Antetokounmpo, on the 6th of December 1994 in Greece’s capital Athens.
Giannis spent all his formative years in Greece as an illegal immigrant until he got citizenship and was able to migrate to the United States in 2013. But before that, Veronica’s son initially launched his basketball career as a team member with the Filathlitikos junior team and proceeded to play in their senior team in 2011.
A couple of years later, Giannis was drafted into the National Basketball Association and currently plays with the Milwaukee Bucks as a guard/forward. “The Greek Freak,” as he is called, has garnered a good number of awards and accolades, including the NBA Most Improved Player Award, NBA most valuable player award, NBA Defensive Player Of The Year Award, Best NBA Player ESPY Award, and more. He also led the Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship.
The basketball star is very close to his parents; he does not miss an opportunity to wish Veronica well on her anniversary and once vowed that he was ready to give up his fame and fortune to have his beloved father back.
Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo have Other Children Apart from Giannis
Far from being the only child of his parents, Giannis spent his growing-up years alongside four siblings – all boys. Before Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo migrated to Europe, they already had one son, Francis Olowu Ofili Antetokounmpo (b. 20th Oct 1988), whom they left behind with his grandparents. However, Francis later went to join the family in Greece and is currently earning his keeps as a musician. Though he played soccer while he was in Nigeria and during his early days in Greece.
Veronica’s second son is Thanasis Antetokounmpo (b. 18th of July 1992). Thanasis is also part of the NBA, playing alongside Giannis in Milwaukee Bucks.
After they had Giannis, Veronica and Charles welcomed their fourth son, Kostas Antetokounmpo (b. 20th of November 1997). Kostas currently plays basketball with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA.
The baby of the Antetokounmpo household is Alexandros Emeka “Alex” Antetokounmpo, who announced his entrance on the 27th of August 2001. He plays basketball with the Greek team, UCAM Murcia.
Before they became famous, the Antetokounmpo brothers had it rough in Greece as they assisted their parents in making ends meet. According to Giannis, they would hit the streets after school, hawking items like watches, handbags, sunglasses, and more. That was the only kind of job they could find to do as illegal immigrants. The family only got liberated in 2021 after Giannis’ victory with his basketball team led the Greek prime minister to grant his entire family citizenship.
What is Veronica’s Career Path?
During her days in Nigeria, Veronica was known as a high jumper. However, when she migrated to Greece alongside her husband in 1991, she started taking odd jobs in a bid to put food on the table.
The Nigerian athlete would sometimes get jobs as a nanny, babysitting for different families, and other times, Veronica Antetokounmpo may find something totally different.
What many people do not know is that Mrs. Antetokounmpo once graced the screen in an acting role. Alongside her NBA star son, Giannis, she recorded an appearance in an Australian movie entitled Dead Europe.
On the set of the film, the mother and her then 16-year-old son played a cameo as refugees; the role was majorly meant for the basketball player to deliver a “one line”, “Quiet, please… she is dead gone,” but veronica was in the scene with Giannis. This movie role came at a time when the Antetokounmpos were still considered to be undocumented Immigrants in Greece and desperately needed extra cash as life was getting more and more difficult.
Talking about Giannis and Veronica Antetokounmpo’s involvement in the movie, the director, Tony Krawitz, revealed that the Dead Europe experience matched what the Antetokounmpo family have been faced in their life journey, and that was the major reason they opted to be in it.
Presently, Veronica is retired and no longer battles with financial worries as she is the mother of five successful sons. The Nigerian-born high jumper now enjoys life as an NBA mum and spends her leisure having fun on social media platforms.
She joined the Twitter platform in 2017 @veronica_ante34, where her profile reads “Mother of Francis, Thanasis, Giannis, Kostas, Alex, NBA Mother”. She has since garnered 6k followers and still counting. Vero is also on Instagram.
