Milwaukee Bucks: 3 ways the FIBA World Cup can help the team
Giannis grows his already prodigious following worldwide
The NBA is a league of stars, and those at the very top of the game garner a following not just locally or nationally but internationally. Basketball fans in every country in the world buy Kobe Bryant‘s jersey or a pair of Air Jordans or a headband like LeBron James.
They shoot from a kilometer away like Stephen Curry or try to fit five or six steps into their stepback like “The Beard,” James Harden.
What all of these players have in common is their incredible basketball ability and success, but they are all American players.
What Giannis Antetokounmpo has the chance to do is become one of the greatest non-American players to play in the NBA, and by the end of his career he may be at the top of that list.
By competing internationally for his home country of Greece, Antetokounmpo not only serves his country but grows his fan base as well. Many point to the 1992 Dream Team at the Summer Olympics as a watershed moment for basketball’s popularity worldwide.
Children were able to see NBA stars play against their country’s team and were captivated.
Antetokounmpo continues that tradition and can further accelerate the process of spreading basketball fandom worldwide. His name is not an American name and that can bring fans in. Every time he makes a new fan and that fan buys his jersey, he is likely buying a Milwaukee Bucks jersey.
The Bucks want to have the world’s most popular and impactful star, both for financial reasons and also for prestige. While the league’s big market teams loaded up on stars this summer the Bucks retooled around theirs.
While LeBron James and Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard sit at home, Antetokounmpo is stepping onto a new stage and showing fans across the world that he is the best player in the league.
From Team USA to Greece to Turkey the Milwaukee Bucks have one of the NBA’s largest footprints on the 2019 FIBA World Cup. For a franchise ready to make the next step there are some benefits, even indirect, for their players suiting up to represent their countries.
Next. NBA's top 30 rivalries of all-time. dark
Most of all it may be yet another level for its international superstar.