Thanasis Antetokounmpo Net Worth: The Real Price of Playing in Your Brother’s Shadow

Last updated on April 22, 2026

Everyone is familiar with one version of the Antetokounmpo narrative which involves a Nigerian Greek family selling watches and sunglasses on Athens’ streets the youngest son having unrealistic expectations and the NBA abruptly changing its mind about him. Giannis owns that tale. However the older brother has a different version that is less organized and quieter. The arc that Thanasis Antetokounmpo followed was not exactly the same.

Athanasios Antetokounmpo was born on July 18 1992. Thanasis is almost seventy million dollars poorer than Giannis and two years older. That’s not a criticism; it’s only math and tells very little about what he really constructed. As of 2024 his estimated net worth is $5 million which may seem small until you consider how it was put together piece by piece continent by continent contract by contract through a career that took considerably more reinvention than his brother’s ever did.

A large portion of this family’s history began in the Greek basketball team Filathlitikos where both brothers began their careers. Around 2008 Thanasis developed his skills in their younger teams and was eventually selected for the senior squad. Even though the stat sheet doesn’t accurately show it coaches like his muscular presence fast feet and fierce energy on defense. He first joined Giannis in declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft but he later withdrew his name. Whether the choice was correct or not it influenced all that came after.

Thanasis chose the G League path rather than the 2013 draft and the Delaware 87ers selected him. That year he averaged 12 points and 4.3 rebounds numbers that would have put him in the professional debate. He was chosen by the New York Knicks with the 51st overall pick in 2014 and he signed a two year rookie contract worth about $1.4 million. It seemed like the start. It was actually more of a convoluted middle.

His tenure with New York was frustrating in the same way that periphery NBA careers frequently are fleeting outings extended stints with the Westchester G League affiliate glimpses of the player he could be and the ongoing uncertainty of whether the parent club would call. During his debut season he only made two appearances for the Knicks. Westchester’s numbers were promising. It wasn’t the NBA exposure. The company might not have known exactly what to do with him.

He returned to Europe as a result. Most profiles tend to ignore that section yet it is important both professionally and monetarily. Thanasis gained genuine respect in European basketball circles after he joined MoraBanc Andorra and helped them end a protracted playoff absence. Then he joined Panathinaikos one of the most renowned teams in Greece where he spent two seasons and amassed an incredible collection of accolades including two Greek League titles a Greek Cup two Most Spectacular Player of the Year awards and back to back All Star Game MVP honors. Although those honors didn’t immediately make headlines in the United States they did give you a better negotiating position when Milwaukee called.

The easiest and most difficult thing to say about this stage of Thanasis’ career is that he was playing with Giannis after the Bucks signed him to a two year contract worth $3.15 million. There’s a feeling that the dynamic sparked some mistrust and faint murmurs about favoritism and nepotism none of which were totally just. He had a significant role in the team’s 2021 NBA championship victory which was the team’s first in fifty years. That ring was earned by him. While Giannis scored fifty points in the series’ last game Thanasis was supposedly hurt and sitting on the bench in a suit as his brother made history. He sobbed. The majority of individuals would.

After winning the title Milwaukee gave him a $3.6 million two year contract deal. That season he scored a career high 3.6 points per game demonstrating that he was never the cause of a team’s victory or defeat. However the Bucks continued to bring him back and devotion is reciprocal. He inked another $2.3 million one year contract by 2023. Then in May 2024 his Achilles gave up while working out. With free agency approaching at age 31 an Achilles tear is the kind of injury that makes every athlete consider his options.

Beyond basketball Thanasis’s actions indicate that he is considering life after the game. According to reports he has properties in New York and other places in addition to real estate in Greece. His playing revenue has been augmented by endorsement deals with companies such as Nike. His connections to Giannis’s larger commercial environment and his participation in family business endeavors such as the Antetokounbros clothing line alongside his siblings show that he is actively contributing to the creation of something bigger rather than just riding his sibling’s coattails. Giannis once said that being optimistic patient and delusional are the keys to being an entrepreneur. It turns out that he learned that from Thanasis.

From the outside this family’s loyalty seems almost archaic brothers joining with the same team supporting one another and growing together rather than competitively. Giannis whose estimated net worth is above $90 million is usually always the first and last person mentioned when discussing Antetokounmpo’s net worth.

The $5 million that Thanasis received seems insignificant. However you can learn a lot about the real events in the main text from the footnotes. When he was a teenager he peddled handbags on the streets of Athens. As an adult he won an NBA championship. Through contracts signed on three continents hustle that most people never had to muster and a career that required multiple rebuilds he amassed a net worth. That is hardly a tale of solace. That’s simply a different kind of achievement.