MILWAUKEE — Disney+ released the trailer for “Rise,” a new movie based on the true story of Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family.
The movie, available exclusively on Disney+, will be released on June 24.
The family emigrated from Nigeria to Greece, desperately trying to gain citizenship, fearing deportation. Giannis, played by Uche Agada, and his brothers would float between selling items to tourists to playing basketball with a local team. The boys may have been late to the game, but that did not stand in their way.
The film follows the young family from then, all the way to 2013, when Giannis entered the NBA Draft.
“They said I didn’t belong. That it was impossible — that we’d never make it, that we couldn’t have an impact,” Uche Agada, as Giannis, said in the trailer. “But we knew together, we couldn’t lose.”
The movie continues on to show Giannis becoming a back-to-back MVP and world champion for the Milwaukee Bucks, alongside his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo, played by Ral Agada. Their brother Kostas Antetokounmpo, played by Jaden Osimuwa, joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
“They can knock us down, but they can’t stop us from getting back up,” Uche Agada continued.