Milwaukee Bucks ’Giannis Antetokounmpo buys a stake in Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has bought a stake in Milwaukee Brewers, the MLB team announced Friday.

Antetokounmpo follows the model of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: a small-scale star who invests in a local baseball franchise system that Mahomes did when he joined the Kansas City Royals ownership group.

“Man, this is amazing,” Antetokounmpo, wearing a No. 34 baseball shirt, said at a news conference on Friday. “This is a dream for a child from Sepolia, Athens, Greece, born of immigrant parents. I could not have imagined being in this position.”

Now I just have to work with my swing !! #New beginnings @Brewers pic.twitter.com/pRIBv4Avf9

Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@ Giannis_An34) August 21, 2021

Brewery chief owner Mark Attanasio joked that he was wondering if baseball operations manager David Stearns could try a 6-foot 11 forward.

“We are honored to have Giannis join our Milwaukee Brewers investor team,” Attanasio said in a statement. “Giannis is a great athlete, a world champion and a true local hero with an international reputation.”

Antetokounmpo is the first new single investor to be added to the Brewers group of owners since Attanasio acquired franchise control in 2005.

The decision by the double NBA MVP to buy the city’s baseball team comes a month after he helped lead the Bucks to Milwaukee’s first NBA championship in 50 years.

Attanasio and Antetokounmpo said they will finalize this agreement in May. Antetokounmpo said he and the team were silent at the time because they didn’t want to disrupt the Bucks playoffs and the start of the Brewers season.

“Milwaukee made me who I am today,” said Antetokounmpo, who signed a five-year, $ 228 million Supermax deal with Bucks in December. “It made me a better person. This is basically my home. I have become a father here. I have become a leader here. I have become a master here and I want to be involved.

“I want to be involved in the community as much as possible. I know Milwaukee is investing a lot in me, and I want to invest a lot of me back in Milwaukee.”

Antetokounmpo said it started the idea of ​​owning a professional sports franchise last year while in the NBA playoffs at Walt Disney World. Antetokounmpo, originally from Greece, said his team first discussed the possibility of buying a European football club.

Breweries seem like a sensible investment. The team will lead the eight-match lead in the NL Central match on Friday night and have won four of their last five matches.

“Apparently growing in Europe, there’s not a lot of baseball,” Antetokounmpo said. “I can tell you when I was introduced to baseball. I was 18. I was the first day I came to Milwaukee. I came into the game. But I know Christian Yelich. I know he’s a great player.”

Antetokounmpo can discuss the benefits of winning the title with Brewers players.

“It’s hard to achieve,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s hard to get there. But when you achieve it, it’s the best feeling ever. It’s the best feeling ever. You always remember what it took to get there. And you create this bond with your teammates for the rest of your life. It’s an addictive feeling.”

Attanasio said about 20 Brewers players watched from the Fiserv Forum series when Antetokounmpo scored 50 points in the sixth game of the NBA Finals to win the first Bucks championship since 1971.

“We’re trying to get the good karma that Giannis and his teammates created to massage us,” Attanasio said.

Antetokounmpo isn’t the only major Wisconsin athlete to have invested in another state pro-franchising system. Green Bay Packers defender Aaron Rodgers owns a minority stake in Bucks.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.