Milwaukee Bucks: Highlights From SI's Giannis Antetokounmpo Feature
Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports
As Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s profile continues to rise, we look at the highlights from a recent Sports Illustrated feature that will see the Milwaukee Bucks young star grace the magazine’s cover
We’ve reached a point where it now seems safe to say that Giannis Antetokounmpo is a star. That’s a term that hasn’t been paired alongside Milwaukee Bucks players all too often in recent years, but in this case it’s true.
Antetokounmpo is a highlight machine and an affable personality, but more importantly than that, he has started to lead his team to victories and get the better of matchups with some of the league’s biggest names.
Although Giannis may already have arrived at star status, his game possesses all the tools for him to ascend to superstardom in the very near future.
One instance that seems like a significant marker on that journey stems beyond the recent national media exposure the Greek had already been the recipient of.
In this case, I’m talking about Tuesday’s news that Antetokounmpo would grace the cover of regional editions of this week’s Sports Illustrated magazine. Not only is Giannis the cover star of one of the world’s most prestigious sports publications for the first time, but he’s also the subject of an accompanying feature piece by the exceptional Lee Jenkins.
Jenkins has long been established as one of the very best and most respected feature writers in the world of sport, with NBA pieces on the likes of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Joel Embiid just some recent examples of his widely acclaimed writing.
Ahead of the magazine hitting newsstands, the article posted online on Tuesday and left plenty of nuggets for Bucks fans to unpack and mull over. It’s worth reading in its entirety multiple times, as I’m sure many have done and will do (you can do it again here too).
With the dust having settled a little, though, let’s dive back into the piece to highlight some of the most interesting, amusing and important details.
Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Minding His Money
A frequent question that has emerged from those on the outside looking in since Giannis signed his contract extension back in September has been: will the money change him?
Those who are familiar with Giannis’ personality would feel confident in answering that question in the negative, as coach Jason Kidd and general manager John Hammond have often done.
Through a number of amusing anecdotes, Jenkins shows that Giannis was always prudent with his money and remains so to this day.
One such example comes from Giannis’ rookie season when he used to go for dinner with former assistant video coordinator Ross Geiger.
But when they ate dinner, even at McDonald’s, Antetokounmpo insisted on splitting the bill. Either he didn’t comprehend how much more he earned than a video guy, or he couldn’t bear to part with the cash.
For anyone who thinks that Giannis on a rookie scale deal was probably very different to the player who now has $100 million to rest on, there’s further evidence to suggest he’s just the same guy.
When Giannis inked his four-year, $100 million extension in September—after postponing the signing by four hours to accommodate a morning workout—he called Bucks co-owner Wes Edens at his hotel in Ireland. “I just wanted to say thank you for the money,” Antetokounmpo started. “It means so much to me and my family. I’m going to work very hard for it.” Then he offered to buy friends and family steak at the Capital Grille in Milwaukee for lunch. When the meat arrived, with appetizers and side dishes, Giannis looked alarmed. “I don’t know who’s paying for all this,” he cracked, “because I only said I’d get the steak.”
If the 22-year-old could be described as remaining as grounded as he was on the day he stepped into the NBA, there’s good reason for it. To describe Antetokounmpo’s journey as having come from nothing doesn’t do it justice. As such, if Giannis is more grateful or humble than players in a similar position to him, it’s unsurprising. If anything, what makes the Greek Freak great could be the fact he doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“I think about where I was four years ago, on the streets, and where I am today, able to take care of my kids and my grandkids and their grandkids,” Antetokounmpo marvels. “I’m not saying that in a cocky way or a disrespectful way. But it is a crazy story, isn’t it?”
Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Jason Kidd’s Stats
A moment that for many will always stand out as a major milestone in the earlier years of Giannis’ development, Jason Kidd’s decision to give his young forward a DNP out of the blue against the Cavaliers back in 2015 has already been discussed at length by many.
For a long time, the details were few and far between. Jared Dudley was one of the first to shed some light on things when he appeared on Zach Lowe’s Lowe Post Podcast last year. As Dudley recalled it at the time:
I think something happened in practice or whatever, and Jason Kidd was like, hey you’ve got to learn from your mistakes. It would happen throughout the course of the season, Giannis would do stuff once in the blue moon.
We were trying to change the culture, and I met with J-Kidd, captains did, and stood behind him. And Giannis with his thing took it on the chin, said it won’t ever happen again, and we’re going to move forward.
Giannis’ decision to take his punishment on the chin at that time may have appeared to those in the locker room as a sign of great maturity. In speaking with Jenkins, Antetokounmpo revealed that there was a reason why he paused before confronting his head coach over any decision to bench him, though.
The first time Kidd benched him, Antetokounmpo was irate. “I was like, ‘Let’s see what this guy did in his career, anyway,’ ” Antetokounmpo recounts, and called up Kidd’s bio on his phone. “I saw Rookie of the Year, NBA championship, USA Olympic gold medal, second in assists, fifth in made threes, blah, blah, blah. I was like, ‘Jesus freaking Christ, how can I compete with that? I better zip it.’ ”
While Antetokounmpo not knowing about Kidd’s illustrious playing career may appear to be just the latest in a long line of endearing Giannis stories, it puts further emphasis into how different his route to the NBA was.
In explaining how he never even understood his own physical gifts until much later, Antetokounmpo noted:
“A lot of players will tell you, ‘When I was a kid, I watched Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron, Magic, and I wanted to be just like them,’ ” Antetokounmpo says. “For me it wasn’t like that at all.”
Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Coach JET
Okay, okay, I know I should probably be focusing on the prospect of Giannis’ practice performances translating to him being a much improved three-point shooter soon, but who doesn’t love a good JET quote?
Jason Terry‘s voice has been a breath of fresh air for the Bucks this season, both on the court and in the media.
Terry’s game may not be what it once was, but there’s no more visible or vocal supporter of Milwaukee’s young stars than JET. Whether it’s cheerleading from the bench or hyping up Giannis and Jabari Parker in the media, Terry’s influence has seemed largely positive so far.
So, who wouldn’t like to see Terry around in some capacity longer term?
He shoots along the arc with Sweeney. Rookie Thon Maker mops the floor. Antetokounmpo’s three-point percentage, 29.3 this season, right around his career mark, is still the source of much consternation. Judging by his practice sessions, it will spike soon, and then there won’t be any way left to defend him. “When I’m coaching,” muses the 39-year-old Terry, “he’ll be pretty much unguardable.”
Although that “when I’m coaching” could just be some of Terry’s trademark wit, if Kidd remains the coach in Milwaukee as he is contracted to do for the foreseeable future, there’s a real chance Terry could start out his assistant coaching career in Milwaukee under the tutelage of his friend and former teammate.
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Late Night Practice Sessions
At this point Antetokounmpo’s work ethic and drive have been well documented. Even if it hadn’t, a quick look at a photo of Giannis from his rookie year compared to the imposing physique he now possesses would tell the story all by itself.
Jenkins opens up his piece with a visual description of the journey that Giannis takes so often to the Bucks’ practice facility at St. Francis.
On the worst nights, when the fadeaways are short and the pocket passes are late, Giannis Antetokounmpo skips the showers. He storms out of the Bradley Center in full uniform, from home locker room to player parking lot, and hops into the black Explorer the local Ford dealer lent him. He turns right on North 4th Street in downtown Milwaukee, steers toward the Hoan Bridge and continues six miles south to the Catholic seminary in St. Francis, where the priests pray and the Bucks train and The Freak dispenses his rage. Alone, Antetokounmpo reenacts the game he just played, every shot he clanked and every read he missed. Sometimes, he leaves by 1 a.m. Other times, he stays until three, sweating through his white jersey for a second time. “I get so mad, and if I go right home, I’m afraid I’ll never get that anger out,” Antetokounmpo says. “This is how I get the anger away.”
Although in this case practicing into the late hours of the night acted as a kind of therapy for Giannis to work off the stresses and frustrations, Jenkins reveals more to the Greek’s motivations.
We get a sense of how Giannis chooses to practice at the facility after games rather than have it come across as if he’s looking to put on a show for the fans post-game. As with many of the quotes and stories that emerge from the piece, it paints a picture of a young man who is increasingly serious. Not in a dour or lifeless way by any means, but as an indicator of a defined motivation and focus.
The piece closes with the Bucks breaking up for Christmas after a dominant showing against the Wizards and Giannis just missing out on 40 points.
In the locker room afterward, players scatter for Christmas, two days away. “Stay out of the gym!” swingman Tony Snell cautions, and Antetokounmpo surreptitiously shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he mutters. A few minutes later the black Explorer turns right on North 4th Street, toward the snow-covered bridge, taking the league’s most unlikely driver to a place only he can see.
Still, after the best performance of his career to date, it was time for work.
Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The Smoothie Kid No More
It was the moment that encapsulated the sense of wide-eyed excitement that Giannis Antetokounmpo used to adjust to life not only in the NBA, but in a new and exotic part of the world too. Up until his recent bursts of incredible highlights, a love of smoothies was what the casual observer likely knew Giannis best for.
It seemed like there was very little off-court footage to be found of Giannis during his first couple of years with the Bucks that didn’t involve a trip to get a smoothie.
I’m pretty certain we’re not being told to believe that Giannis has lost his fondness for smoothies, but more that, once again, he’s much more focused and serious than he was at that time. Now, it’s a disappointment to only score 39 points, so a smoothie isn’t something he’s going to get overexcited about.
When Antetokounmpo reminisces about his rookie year, he sounds as if he is talking about another era and another person. “I was like a kid in the park, seeing all the cities, seeing LeBron and KD, having so much fun. But that kid—the kid with the smoothies—I’m not really that kid anymore.”
Giannis has got more than his preferred three strawberry, two blueberry smoothie order on his mind nowadays.
“I’ve definitely become more serious,” Antetokounmpo says. “I have a franchise on my shoulders.”
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
All-Star
If a Lee Jenkins’ profile and the cover of Sports Illustrated marked one major breakthrough moment for Antetokounmpo on his rise to new heights in the NBA world, the next step is approaching fast on the horizon.
The first returns for All-Star voting will be unveiled on Thursday. Playing at a level deserving of a starting spot, Bucks fans will be hoping that their countless votes have put him in a strong position to clinch a spot in the next couple of weeks.
Even if the fan vote doesn’t lead Giannis to the starting five in New Orleans, a reserve role would seem like an absolute certainty. Still, even in conversation with his agent, Jenkins reports that Giannis is remaining cautious in getting his hopes up.
When [Alex] Saratsis mentions the All-Star Game, Antetokounmpo hushes him, so as not to jinx it.
For Jenkins, on the other hand, there’s no such sense of superstition. The man famed for his profiles with LeBron James among many others in recent years, Jenkins should know an All-Star when he sees one. Nonchalantly, he described Giannis as such, suggesting an end to Milwaukee’s lengthy drought is near.
This season he will be the team’s first All-Star since Michael Redd in 2004, and before you learn to spell his surname, he will be much more.
Whether that transpires remains to be seen, but as with the rest of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s story and game: the more you see of it, the more you have to believe.
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