“There Was a Guy With a Greek Last Name”: Giannis Antetokounmpo Led $2,300,000,000 Franchise Could Have Been Steve Ballmer’s Team, Reminisces Clippers Owner

The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the successful NBA teams in recent times. Apart from dominating the regular season in the last five years, the team won the championship in 2021. Amid this sweeping success, the franchise’s face Giannis Antetokounmpo issued a trade warning. While many are still wrapping their heads around it, Los Angeles Clippers owner reminisced about the time when he almost bought the Bucks.

The Greek Freak played his rookie season with the Bucks in the 2013-14 season. Importantly, the Greek-Nigerian baller hit the ground running and improved his game manifold every season. Notably, he won two MVP awards in his 10-year-long career. Despite his success in the Bucks, the star recently scared the fans with recent statement to the NY Times. Since then, the superstar has been on the news and the Clippers owner had an uncanny story about him as well.

When Clippers Almost Got the Bucks

The Bucks franchise has witnessed three owners in the last 10 years. When the previous owner Wes Edens decided to sell the team during the 2013-14 season, Steve Ballmer also showed his interest. Eventually, Marc Lasry bought the majority stake in 2014 and produced one of the successful franchises of the decade. However, earlier this year, he sold the stakes to Jimmy Haslam and Haslem Sports Group. The team valuation is around $2.3 billion, as per Statista. Notably, CBS Sports reported that Haslem bought the team for $3.5 billion.

Amid this situation, Ballmer revealed the reason for why he didn’t buy the team in 2013. He recently featured in Podcast P with Paul George. During the show, he reminisced about the time when he saw Giannis Antetokounmpo for the first time. Ballmer revealed that he went to witness Bucks’ game before making a decision. He said, “I go to the game and let’s just say there was a guy with a Greek last name and I’d never heard of it in 2013.”

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But Ballmer eventually decided not to buy the team, as they had a bad season in 2013-14 season. However, this time around, Giannis might end up in a different jersey.

What did Giannis Antetokounmpo say in his recent statement?

In his recent statement with the NY Times, Giannis expressed his wish to play for other franchises.

He said, “I don’t want to be 20 years on the same team and don’t win another championship.” 

Even though the Bucks won a championship in 2021, they couldn’t capitalize on their regular season in post season. Notably, the Bucks have won more regular season games than any other team in the last five years.

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What do you make of Ballmer’s statement about the Greek Freak? Let us know in the comments below.