On June 27, 2013, the Milwaukee Bucks took a chance on a raw 18-year-old from Greece with the 15th pick in the NBA draft. Eight years later … well, it worked out.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, now a two-time league MVP and still just 26 years old, will look to continue Milwaukee’s quest toward an NBA Finals with Game 3 of the squad’s series with Atlanta. The Bucks need to win at least one game on the road to prevail after the teams split in Milwaukee, 1-1.
What you may not know or remember from that draft was that the team with perhaps the most interest in Antetokounmpo was the Atlanta Hawks, a team then coached by current Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.
It’s one of the biggest takeaways from ESPN writer Adrian Wojnarowski’s “The Woj Pod” episode in 2020 looking specifically at The Giannis Draft.
Giannis’ first stop in America was Atlanta
When Antetokounmpo flew to New York for the 2013 draft, he didn’t go directly to New York; first he stopped in Atlanta, where members of the Hawks had developed a relationship with Giorges Panou, one of Antetokounmpo’s representatives in Greece, and fellow agent Alex Saratsis. It’s where Antetokounmpo first met Atlanta’s first-year coach Budenholzer, who of course, has been piloting the Bucks the past three seasons.
It was Antetokounmpo’s first trip to the United States. Atlanta very badly wanted to draft him and had two picks in the first round, at Nos. 17 and 18. The organization went to great lengths to keep his visit (along with brother Thanasis) under wraps, insisting on back-door entrances and quiet on social media. Assistant GM Wes Wilcox said the club even discussed ways to get the brothers to their airport gate without walking through the concourses.
The second episode of the three-part series, titled “Shut Him Down”, focuses on the Hawks’ keen interest in Antetokounmpo.
More:Live chat: Join JR Radcliffe in a live discussion for Game 3 in Eastern Conference Finals
“At that point, no one knew he was coming except our owner and Bud and Kenny (Atkinson) and assistant GM Wes,” said Danny Ferry, then director of basketball operations for the Hawks, on the podcast. “When he got there, I pulled the staff together and said this kid’s here, I don’t want anyone to know of our interest. … He came to the arena and he walked into the arena. It was dark, he was with his brother. The joy that he had and the excitement, the energy he walked in there with. It was kind of his first wow, this is going to be my life. I’m going to play in places like this, living in America, playing in the best league in the world. He was just star-eyed. His eyes were almost watering, he was so excited to be in the United States and play basketball in the NBA.”
Giannis was already visualizing his life in Atlanta
Wilcox conveyed a brief anecdote that he picked up the brothers from the physical on highly visible Peachtree Street and hurriedly rushed them into his car, trying not to generate attention.
Wilcox said he vividly remembers how grateful the Antetokounmpo brothers were when they discovered they would get to keep some of the workout gear from the visit.
“I have it to this day,” Antetokounmpo said, adding that he filled a suitcase-sized bag with shoes to bring back home to his family. “There’s no way on earth I’m giving it back. They gave me flip flops, they gave me shoes, they gave me socks. Nobody gave me socks before. They gave me all this stuff, and I said, Giroges, you’ve got to tell them from where I came from, I’m not giving this back.
“There’s so much talent in Africa, but if you give a pair of shoes in Africa, he’s going to remember that for the rest of his life. They cared about me. Maybe (in) the NBA, that’s how it works, a draft pick comes in and gets free stuff. But at the time, I was thinking, ‘They cared about me, they gave me free stuff.’ I loved every second of it.”
Antetokounmpo also described his first time seeing Ferry’s house, where he played ping-pong and chess and ate pasta, and Budenholzer was there for the festivities. Antetokounmpo vowed to work as hard as possible to achieve the same level of riches.
“They had this car service,” Antetokounmpo said, describing the scene as he was leaving. “They were joking around with Giorges, ‘We’ll see you in a few, you know? See you in a few days.’ I’m a person that visualized stuff, so I already visualized myself being around Atlanta. So yeah, ‘We’ll see you in a few days, Giannis.’ Yeah, that never happened.”
Thanasis had to borrow a flag for draft night
There are other great stories from the podcasts. Giannis’ older brother, and now Bucks teammate, Thanasis approached a Greek fan and asked to borrow the flag for the moment when Giannis was drafted (after a flag brought from Greece had been left on a bus).
Saratsis also relayed a funny moment when the Cleveland Cavaliers selected Anthony Bennett first overall. Giannis, unclear on the nuances of the draft process, noticed the commotion over the surprise pick and turned to his agent and asked, “What’s going to happen now? Are we screwed?”
But Bucks general manager John Hammond indeed pulled the trigger 14 picks later, with assistant GM Jeff Weltman banging the drum that the team needed to consider the player seriously. The Bucks didn’t have the same advantage of Atlanta in bringing Antetokounmpo to Milwaukee and didn’t have a clear picture of his medicals.
Among the players taken before Antetokounmpo were Victor Oladipo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk, but none obviously matched Antetokounmpo’s resume.
Rudy Gobert was taken 27th in the first round by Utah. Atlanta drafted Dennis Schröder and Shane Larkin with their picks at Nos. 17 and 18.
Some reactions from draft night
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.
