Giannis Antetokounmpo is one in a long line of NBA superstars that have a signature shoe with Nike, but if a rival company had been fairer to Antetokounmpo when they tried to make a deal with him as a child, he may have gone in a different direction instead of coming under the banner of the Swoosh. 

In a recent interview, Antetokounmpo recounted a story of how shoemaker Adidas approached the Milwaukee Bucks star when he was just 14-years-old and still living and playing in Greece.

According to Antetokounmpo's story, the representative from Adidas tried to offer him a contract for €5,000, a significant sum at the time for Antetokounmpo, and also offered the contract to his brother Thanasis. 

But, when the time came to sign the contract, they only gave a contract to Giannis and, according to his story, said that Thanasis would be given his contract after Giannis had signed.

The Bucks star didn't trust it and turned the offer down, despite pleas from his mother. The next day, according to Antetokounmpo's story, a representative from Nike called Antteokounmpo, offering him a contract for €5,000.

After Antetokounmpo made certain that his brother would be given a contract as well, they both signed with Nike and those initial contracts eventually blossomed into the multi-million dollar shoe deal that Antetokounmpo has now. 

That shoe line, the Giannis Freak series, which are now up to their seventh iteration, have been wildly successful since their launch in 2019.

While, Nike doesn't publicly disclose individual player shoe revenue, it's been estimated that the Giannis Freak Ones had the largest product launch in Nike history, per a transcript of Nike's 2020 Q1 earnings call. 

How different things could have been for Adidas had they maintained a good relationship with Antetokounmpo.

The German brand has signed and produced signature shoes for a number of NBA stars, most notably Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards, though Curry recently left Adidas after creative disputes and his since inked a new deal with Chines brand Il-Ning. 

Holding onto Antetokounmpo would have been another massive get for the company and helped them compete in the basketball sphere with their nemesis Nike, who has has had a monopoly on the world of basketball since the launch of the Jordan 1. 

But, that's not how history went and Antetokounmpo instead threw his hat into the ring of the Nike brand and joined the likes of players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and the late-Kobe Bryant.