Real-life brothers portray true story of NBA's Antetokounmpo brothers in Disney+'s 'Rise'

NEW YORK --"Rise" is based on the real-life story of the Antetokounmpo family, including brothers Giannis, Thanasis and Kostas, the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in league history - Giannis and Thanasis while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and Kostas as a Los Angeles Laker. Giannis is famously known as the"Greek Freak." Their brother Alex is also a professional basketball player.

"When I first heard the story, it was very clear that we had an incredibly modern tale of triumph over adversity. And what made it modern is that it's a universal story. It's a universal story family. It's a story of faith," said Arash Amel, writer. The film follows the family after Charles Antetokounmpo and his wife Vera emigrate from Nigeria to Greece, showing their efforts to provide for their family under the threat of deportation and secure Greek citizenship through a flawed immigration system that"blocked them at every turn," according to the film's synopsis.

"Everybody talks about us, about me, Thanasis, Kostas, and Alex, and Francis, but they always leave out our parents you know, my dad and my mom," Giannis said."So, you know, we knew that one day we were going to tell them, like, who the real heroes of this story are, of this journey are." Meantime, Giannis and Thanasis begin playing basketball on a local youth team and discover their talent and passion for the sport. The rest, of course, is history as Giannis, Thanasis and Kostas are eventually drafted into the NBA."I was just layin' in bed one day and I was goin' on Instagram.

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