The Biggest Nepotism Moments In The NBA 

"As long as his brother (Giannis) is the man, he gone have a job, HE GONE HAVE A JOB!!" --- Charles Barkley on Thanasis Antetokounmpo

Nick Kerr is the head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors. People might call that nepotism as well since his father is the HC of the Warriors, but he has a lot of experience as an assistant coach and video room analyst. Also his name will make sure a lot of refs and announcers will lose their job

you forgot wes unseld jr being a nepotism hire because his father was the best wizard/bullet to exist. I know hes been an assistant prior to being a head coach but got his head coach job based off nepotism. In his 3 years as head coach he has shown nothing to prove hes actually head coach worthy

As much as it hurts to admit it, Michael Malone was another coach that benefited from nepotism because of his dad Brendan being a former coach himself, and Rick Adelman's son is one of Michael's assistants in Denver

I remember Blevins being so bad on the court that I thought the Blazers were itching to waive him right away if he wasn't related to Dame.

We all knew Thanasis was definitely going to be here but I didn't knew he was the older brother. 😂

Nick Ressler's meddling nearly destroyed the Hawks' whole season last December (2022). Luckily, local media (Jeff Schultz of AJC) called Tony Ressler out almost directly in an article, warning him that bad ownership always destroys teams. If theres one thing Tony seems to hate most, its being embarrassed publically, and it seemed like becaue of that, changes were made almost immediately afterwards.

It appears that Luke Walton got plenty of opportunities because of either his father, Bill Walton, or his relationship with Vlade Divac, who was his Lakers teammate.

Watching the game last night I realized Giannis and Brook Lopez each has a brother on the team

Us Philly fans can never forgive Jerry Colangelo for putting Bryan Colangelo in charge of the Sixers.

Nick Nurse, in his last few years with the Raptors, hired his old teammate as the shooting coach who had zero experience. Raptors really struggled shooting and got even worse.

The Stockton Kings gleague general manager is the Kings owners daughter. What are her qualifications? She tried doing music years ago and failed to get a buzz. That’s pretty much it.

Just gives more respect to SETH ADHAM CURRY!!!!.... Yes, his brother may be the greatest shooter of all time, but Seth does not need him to get a spot on an NBA roster!!! Seth earned himself!!!

The nepotism of dell curry for Steph worked, and the nepotism of Steph for Seth and Damon Lee worked out pretty well.

Larry Jordan becoming VP of Player Personnel was one of the most confusing hirings in NBA History

One of the issues is that when it doesn't work out for someone from an nba family, it's not the end of the world for them, however it's like a lottery for someone coming from poverty

Reminds me of Filipino Fans begging Miami, Utah and Sacramento to draft Kai Sotto due to them having notable Filipino figures in their teams.

Yep this is a great video honestly!! Never thought you would touch this subject!!

I keep telling folks, connections are essential if you are trying to get far in any field, especially if you want to get into higher positions. Yes, it does suck that someone can get hired/fired due to nepotism, but it’s the reality we live in and you can always turn that into an advantage in your favor by reaching out and making connections.

Austin Rivers was the only example of nepotism that actually worked

The Kings owner has the daughter be the GM of the Stockton Kings can be here too

I think nepotism is also more difficult to get away with in professional sports because results can be more easily measured, and competition is high. Alternatively, governments and some companies/industries can hide the incompetencies associated with the practice for decades because of established economics edge moat. Established by prior competent actors. In professional sports, You won't really be able to hide the rot for more than a few years. As contracts expire, top players leave.

Great video Nepotism runs DEEP in the NFL at the qb position and especially with coaching It would be great if you could make a video about that even though basketball is your thing

Whatsz crazy is that this is like 10x worse in the MLB.I remember that a couple years ago the Blue Jays had like 4 sons of former players all in the majors at once.

i remember chris smith when JR was hooping and going off 💀 you know it’s nepotism when relative can’t get a contract or hired somewhere else

Andy Hoops! With Another ONE

The Chris Smith signing because of JR Smith is the most hilarious because JR has never even been a star or even great player. lmao

at this point you can say Thanasis on the team is nepotism but to make an NBA roster you have to be more than just a good players brother! so, give the man his credit for impressing whoever he had to impress!

Andy Hoops Dropping some bangers again❤

This happens in all walks of life so don’t be naive about it . NBA roster spot already has a very high barrier for nepotism. MJ’s case is just a microcosm of the world we live in.

You forgot to mention Jalen Brunson signing with the Knicks. His dad works in the Knicks front office

Even if there is some sort of truth in your saying about Thanasis , it's definitely not true that he was a bench warmer in euroleague . In his two years with Panathinaikos 2017-2019 he was a solid member of the team 's rotation. He is also an important and vital member of the greek national team . In my opinion Thanasis could have a great career in Europe, instead he chose this role next to his brother , the fifteenth guy of an nba team roster as you said, maybe a job that he is overqualified for , certainly not a clear example of nepotism despite all the bad comments from haters

The lesson of this video is the NBA league office is NEVER going to get rid nepotism on the bench when the front offices doing the same thing. The team owners run this league and they know Adam Silver won't do sh!t to stop them. 🏀

Not NBA, but Bronny is the definition and of nepotism. He literally got named an all American cause of his last name.

Nick Kerr was the Santa Cruz Graphics now he's the coach. Must be nice

Just a comment, as a Greek that has been following Thanasis throughout the years. He is not as a bad as claimed here. Of course he has never been on the level of a guy that should be in an NBA team's rotation, but it is not like he had no game. In his Euroleague team (Panathinaikos) and in Greek national team, he has been an excellent roleplayer. A high-motor, "leave it all to the field" type of player who consistently contributed on his team defense, rebounding etc. I would argue that he was actually quite a valuable role player in all the aforementioned situations. Of course I do not deny that some nepotism is in place here, but come on, we are talking about the 15th player of the squad. He was on that level (lately he has stopped working on his game and it shows)

No mention of Brian and Jerry Colangelo?

Anybody remember Zoran Dragic and Taylor Griffen?

Great video 🔥

I think Thanasis gets a pass because he atleast had a Greek league mvp under his belt but if they had signed Kostas, thatsd be nepotism

Nepotism is Nepotism doesn't matter even you're good or not.

Blazers fans came to know Kelvin as "Traffic Check", because if he ever came into the game, it was time to see what the traffic on I-5 looked like for the drive out of there.

Honestly one minimum contract to make giannis happy is too cheap imo

Seems like an interesting topic you get there, my friend. Did you know I first heard the word "nepotism" from Seth Rosenthal of Secret Base in the Lakers' Collapse video? Btw Travis Schlenk has been with the Hawks since 2017 before leaving in 2022.

Who told you, that Thanasis was a bench warmer in the Euroleague? Anytime he steps on the court, he play his ass off and provides energy to his team. Stop listening to all the other people and open your eyes for yourselfes.

Yunjin did say “Nepotism” one time…

To be fair, who wouldn’t give their son or siblings a chance?

Georgetown has an anti nepotism rule, I only know cause Patrick Ewing Jr couldn't make it as a pro so he joined the Georgetown coaching staff with his former coach. But a few years later, that coach stepped down and they hired his dad, which meant he had find a new job.

I hated when Shannon Sharpe went at the Bucks for paying Thanasis as if they were going to do anything better with that money😭😭. Sports media for you.

Dude did your voice change or did you upgrade your mic?

Kind of glossed over who spoelstra's dad was. An executive and president of operations. Easily worked his way up much faster due to his family connections.

James Dolan was able to become the owner of the Knicks because his father, Charles Dolan, was the founder of Cablevision and HBO. Since he became the owner of the Knicks, the Knicks have become a weak team.

Great video man!!

Maybe in 1999 when both Wilkins brothers were signed to the Magic.

Kings' owner's daughter got hired as GM of their G League team after her "music career" flamed out.

Isn’t Steve Kerr’s son, Nick Kerr the assistant GM of the Warriors?

This a great video cause this is not talked about enough

Buddy Boehiem getting a two way deal on the Pistons last year

For what it’s worth, often these brothers and cousins are legitimate pros (just not NBA level) and good friends with their better NBA player family member. Therefore they accompany them to their workouts and scrimmages in the off-season. Then through this they accumulate a lot of time playing with actual NBA players who are also at these workouts. Here they build relationships and on+off chemistry which leads to them getting a better shot at the 15th roster spot. I personally don’t a have a big problem with it. If I am a GM and he 15th man comes down to Thanasis who everyone likes or it’s a random 25 year old G Leaguer who has no noteworthy ceiling and may cause issues or not fit it. Just take the sure thing.

The only good thing is that Nepotism is often punished by results If you choose someone for something else that his skills, you will lose against the other

Don Nelson and Donnie Nelson, no mention?

It makes me wonder if you forgot about the Bryan and Jerry Colangelo stiuation when they took over the Sixers.

Colangelos and Nelsons

What about George Karl and Kolby Karl or Bill Walton and Luke Walton? No mentions?

The Brunson situation with the Knicks just flew under the radar?

Blevins was the biggest joke, every blazer fan knew why he was there lol.

To be honest, I do think that thanasis deserves the 15th spot for the bucks, I mean what more could you ask for the 15th guy. Not only is he a great lockerroom guy, but he is also one of the best hype man around the league, and lets not forget that he is the OLDER BROTHER of giannis and probably the only reason giannis is still with the bucks. He also has good highlights, the milwaukee bucks post him quite frequentlly

Wasn't there also a Jerry/Bryan Colangelo situation with the Sixers?

Thanaisis is extremely valuable to us he is making Giannis happy and that is all that maters really.

That first clip showed goran dragic, when he played for the heat, they signed his brother zoran dragic. It happens all the time.

Give more minutes to Thanasis and for sure he will be on Shaqtin a Fool every week 😂😂😂😂

You make a great point on Austin Rivers

Bruh, I feel bad for the Hawks franchise.

I'm surprised LeBron and Rich Paul ties weren't mention

Thanos serves as the 15th man on the roster. He comes in for bullshit minutes and flys around high octane. Off the court is where he is most useful and why the Bucks keep him around. He keeps Giannis sane, he keeps the team on the right mindset. It's why the fans were pushing to give him a coaching job to free up the roster space. There's a lot more useless players on a team then Thanos.

Thanasis is not playing at an NBA level. Just watch some Bucks games, the stuff he does in garbage time is HORRENDOUS. I know, it's only garbage time and doesn't matter - but it's still an obvious case of nepotism. But I get it, keeping Giannis happy is all that matters for the Bucks.

I don’t have an issue with Austin Rivers getting a second chance with his dad’s team. What I do have an issue with is the $34 million extension they have him in the 2016 offseason. He’s worth maybe a tenth of that a year.

surprised there's no jalen brunson mention at all this vid. yes he is a good player and he proved his worth, but at the time of the signing, there was a lot of talk about this being a case of nepotism

Hey Andy can you do a video about why the 2013 Miami Heat didn't repeat

I feel like ive been seeing alot of thanasis jabs this past week, i wonder why all of a sudden

The 15th man doesn't play anyway might as well use it to appease the 1st man

6:52 Mama Jordan should've been the manager of Hornets, she's a better decision maker tbh

I always thought that about Thanasis not even watching the nba nowadays, I do watch games summaries and it's the most obvious thing, i saw somewhere Giannis told Bucks organization in order to stay with them was keeping Thanasis

This happened to me in high school with my brother lol. He was good in soccer so they moved me right up to varsity in my freshman year. Their team was so bad and the coach didn’t know what he was doing so I asked to go to Jv for a while. I just ended up staying, better coach and we actually won games! I was honestly too weak to play varsity but I’d kill anyone in open space. Varsity coach tried to make me play midfield when I played forward since I was like 6 lol. I don’t pass bro! I get buckets!!

The fact that Austin Rivers had the Neoptism baggage is whack, that dude can play n deserves a spot in a lot rotation.

LiAngelo Ball is waiting for that nepotism 😅

giving favoritism to friends at work is called cronyism. Nepotism is strictly speaking only for family/relatives.

I disagree with the Austin Rivers take. He never belonged in the NBA. His father got him a contract and significant minutes on a good team but he never never deserved it. His production on court was always putrid: PER 9 (carreer high of 12), negative OBPM, DPBM, VORP. For comparison, his advanced stats were similiar to those presented by Thanasis. I don't think a player like this deserves a roster spot in a decent NBA team, which he had while he was on the Clippers, let alone a significant role.

You can use nepotism to get a head start but must have the talent and work ethic to back it up.

definitely remember chris smith. and we def signed jacob toppin cause of obi… only to trade obi basically the same damn week 😆

Nepotism is just another word for networking

No matter how good you are, if you don’t fit and stand within the crowd then nepotism will take your spot.

The Thanasis slander has to end sometime now... He was drafted by another team, he can give a quarter of quality time with good defense 1-5, few TO, great athletisism and average shooting. How many 8 places in the roster can do that?? Who would you like instead Thanasis in your team?

So is it a good thing or a bad thing for the Nepotism? Seems like it's both.

Signing a relative to ride the bench seems like a good way to circumvent the salary cap.

Thanisis literally dropped 27 points in a game he started last season

Why'd you change your old background music? That was your trademark!

just watched some of this highlights on tiktok yesterday about giannis brother lol

You forgot when LeBron adopted the whole 2018 Raptors

You play with the cards you are dealt. Philosophy to live by.