Giannis’ Garden parties set the stage for his stardom
With the sports world on hold, we present a countdown of the 50 greatest moments in Wisconsin sports history over the past 50 years. This is No. 48
What was the moment when Giannis Antetokounmpo became GIANNIS?
It wasn’t in 2013, when the Bucks took a risk on a teenager out of Greece with the 15th pick of the NBA draft. Though promising flashes were in healthy supply during his first couple years in the league, Bucks fans still probably weren’t prepared to see him blossom into arguably the best player in the NBA, the 2018-19 MVP and a player who was on his way to another such plaudit before the 2019-20 season was suspended by coronavirus.
The Bucks are back in a stratosphere they haven’t been since the early 1970s, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar transforming an expansion franchise into a powerhouse. Though not all the years in between were lean, the Bucks of the 1990s and 2000s largely topped out at first-round playoff exits, with the 2001 run to the Eastern Conference Finals as the lone exception in a stretch from 1991-92 to 2017-18.
But then, there was Giannis. And while his maturation into a superstar delighted fans at the BMO
Harris Bradley Center (and subsequently Fiserv Forum), some of his biggest name-making moments took place elsewhere. Specifically, we’re talking about two plays inside the hallowed church of pro basketball, Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Sure, we’re cheating by merging two disparate moments together in our 50 moments series. But it’s hard to choose which is truly the signature moment of Giannis’ rise. One was substance, one was style. On Jan. 4, 2017, Antetokounmpo hit a fadeaway jumper for a true buzzer-beater that gave the Bucks a 105-104 victory over the Knicks.
The other came Feb. 6, 2018, when Giannis provided perhaps the most impressive dunk in his lengthy catalog, jumping over Knicks forward Tim Hardaway Jr. in the process.
The buzzer-beater
Milwaukee inbounded with 8.6 seconds left, staring down a disappointing defeat. Milwaukee had been up and down to that point despite a healthy Jabari Parker, rookie Malcolm Brogdon and continually emerging talents Giannis and Khris Middleton. Milwaukee came to New York having won three of four. The Knicks weren’t a winning team, still relying on Carmelo Anthony, but the Bucks hadn’t been able to build a substantial lead at any point. They hung around, though, but Greg Monroe missed a potential game-tying free throw with 34 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Antetokounmpo knocked the ball out of bounds off New York’s Derrick Rose. Officials initially ruled it Knicks’ basketball before a video-replay overturn.
Giannis took the inbound pass, dribbled 11 times and backed down Lance Thomas near the free throw line, took a giant step back and elevated for the win. It was his first buzzer-beater in the NBA, capping off a 27-point, 13-rebound performance that helped the fledgling Bucks win a third straight game. The final: 105-104.
“I was patient,” Antetokounmpo said. “I knew I could shoot the ball over the top, and he was not going to block my shot. I just wanted to make sure I took the last shot.”
The game also featured a thunderous dunk by Antetokounmpo as Anthony cleared out of the way, one of so many in his career. Is there a better dunk, though, than the one he registered a year later in the same venue?
The dunk
It started with a theft from Middleton, the Robin to Giannis’ Batman during their tenure in Milwaukee. Again, it was Lance Thomas who was in the middle of it, trying to sneak a pass across the lane that Middleton picked off.
Antetokounmpo trailed the play as Middleton raced up court, setting up for an alley-oop, and Middleton lobbed a pass that Giannis caught with his right hand and slammed down. In the process, he elevated and cleared the 6-6 Hardaway, bringing the substance of an NBA dunk contest into the middle of a game at Madison Square Garden.
“Khris was going, I knew he was going to throw me the lob,” Antetokounmpo said. “It was a bad pass by Khris, but I was able to get up and go get the ball. I did not see Tim Hardaway under me. I just went up there and just went hard and tried to get the ball and dunk the ball.”
Milwaukee won, 103-89, on a night that was perhaps remembered just as much for an ACL tear sustained by budding Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis. In the crowd that night was former tennis star John McEnroe, whose stupefied expression after the play added to the euphoria of the moment, as did the screech by playby-play announcer Gus Johnson.
How the moments live on
Antetokounmpo has provided other impressive moments, but now it’s his body of work that draws the most attention. He continues to put up numbers that make Milwaukee a perennial title contender.
After that 2017 season, he led the Bucks in all five major stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) and won the Most Improved Player Award. By 2019, the Most Valuable Player Award was in his locker, and there appear to be more where that came from. Even if the 2020 season doesn’t resume, he’ll be a strong contender to win his second, even if it means the Bucks must wait for that first championship since 1971 or first Finals appearance since 1974.
The Bucks reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019, taking a 2-0 lead against eventual NBA champion Toronto before incurring four straight losses. But the Greek Freak, still just 25 years old with his own line of Nike shoes and an international following, continues to get even better as his career develops.