Is OG Anunoby Nigerian? The Knicks Star’s Family Background and Hometown Explained

Amid the monstrous season the New York Knicks are having, fans are looking into OG Anunoby’s background. The New York Knicks forward helped his team erase a record-setting deficit before delivering a game-winning basket that sent Madison Square Garden into complete chaos.

OG’s huge night also moved him to the top of NBA.com’s Finals MVP Ladder. Now, fans want to know more about the Knicks star, including his hometown, Nigerian background and the meaning behind his real first name.

OG was born in London, England, on July 17, 1997. However, Jefferson City, Missouri, is generally considered his hometown because he spent most of his childhood there.

OG is of Nigerian descent, but he was not born in Nigeria. Both of his parents were Nigerian, while OG was born in England. He moved to the United States with his family when he was 4 years old.

His father, Ogugua Anunoby Sr., worked as a professor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. His mother, Grace Ndidi Okereke, died from cancer when OG was only 1.

“It was tough not having a mother, but my dad did a really good job raising us,” he told Sportsnet.

His dad opened up about his mother before his own death in 2018, revealing she was a track star in Nigeria, and that he inherited her athletic abilities.

"Their mother was a champion athlete,” he told the outlet. “She was a sprinter, she was a jumper — she was very competitive.”

OG attended Jefferson City High School, where he developed into one of Missouri’s most promising basketball players. As a senior, he averaged 19.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

He also led his team in steals and blocks and became a finalist for the state’s Mr. Basketball honor. OG is also one of seven siblings: Adaeze, Adaora, Chigbogu "Chigbo," Ogonna, Ifeoma, and Olisamaka.

OG's first name is Ogugua, and his family named him after his father.

He uses OG as a shortened version of his first name. It is not a reference to the slang phrase “original gangster,” even though his Game 4 heroics made him look like an NBA vet.

OG tried to teach Charles Barkley how to pronounce his full name, but Charles struggled to say it correctly. For many fans, it was the first time they heard OG's real name.

"What I’ve learned sometimes pronouncing a name you can truly believe you are pronouncing it exactly as they said it and still be saying it wrong," one person commented before another added, "Someone please spell it phonetically so I can put some respeK on his name."

A third chime in, "Ogugua means 'comforts,' referring to the Igbo language of Nigeria.

It will only be a matter of time before Ogugua becomes a household name.