Nickel: Thanasis Antetokounmpo's podcast is a must-listen for Bucks basketball insight and stories beyond the game
Bobby Portis – and his mom – really wanted him to play football.
Brook Lopez took five years to build his house on the Disney World property in Florida to make sure all the details – like secret passages – were just right.
Vin Baker opens up about the rocket launch into his NBA career, and then his fall to the depths of alcohol addiction – to the point where he drank to avoid withdrawal, even before games. It’s a story that’s featured here in the Journal Sentinel, but hearing it in Baker’s own voice – is both gut-wrenching and inspiring.
All of this was revealed in the last two months on the "Thanalysis" podcast hosted by Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, a must-listen for casual or hardcore Milwaukee Bucks fans and NBA fans in general. Ten-plus episodes in, it’s clear it also offers a lot to the listener who just wants to learn something.
We know Thanasis Antetokounmpo well in Milwaukee. He’s the permanent smile from the sidelines, and the first to encourage teammates during a timeout. He’s been everything from a role to a rotation player since being signed by the Bucks in 2019. He is also unrivaled as Giannis Antetokounmpo’s confidante and sounding board.
But this podcast is a chance to get to know other sides to Thanasis. His personality shines as usual, but he wants to do more with his platform, and he talked about recently – even if it meant chasing him down during a five-minute walk as he was leaving Fiserv Forum after a game, when he shook or high-fived every hand, greeted every person in the hallway and – not kidding – scooped up a baby for hugs.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo understands basketball as much as he can relate to the ideas of sportsmanship and sacrifice. His gift is imparting his knowledge of the game in these podcasts while being curious about the human side and the backgrounds of his guests.
But understanding basketball on a deep level, with a first-person account, is one of his key roles as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, and we can all benefit from listening, because if it's good enough for Giannis...
"From analytic standpoint, I want to help,” said Thanasis. “Because being a player, to be useful to a team, you can't be just like, 'Oh guys, I'm a defender. Oh, guys, I'm a shooter.' You’ve got to have a full package; so teams are like, man, we need this guy on our roster, we need this guy.
“So, I didn't even do this on purpose, but because that's how I am as a person, I kind of try to help as much as I can.
“But. ... These guys don't need my help."
Thanasis Antetokounmpo has been an important resource for Giannis
No? In a Bucks-Los Angeles Clippers game in early February, L.A.’s defense was doing its best to force Giannis to his outside game. And it was a struggle. Giannis was trying to do the smart thing and take the open shots.
But he was getting concerned; he thought he could shoot 25 jump shots and make some, but his teammates wouldn't touch the ball as much, and the ball wouldn't move around as much. He explained in the post-game news conference:
"Sometimes the team forces you to shoot it every single possession,” said Giannis. “They were like back and back and back and back and back and you have to shoot it.
“But at the end of the day, like, I had a conversation with Thanasis and Thanasis was like, 'Hey, you got to make them feel you; you got to get in the paint. You got to draw the crowd. You got to bump them, you've gotta dunk something. I know you can make that shot – but dunk on somebody.'
“(Thanasis) was right. Once I started getting that mindset, everything else opened up."
Thanasis tried his best to downplay his contributions, but he understands the game.
"It's mostly about tendencies,” said Thanasis. “I'm not coaching him. He's a great player. He doesn't – really I don't think anybody – needs coaching this type of level. It's more of like, sometimes the rhythm of the game is leading you towards a certain tendency.
“Like, they're letting me shoot this or they're letting me go to the line or they’re letting me go to the left. My job is to just remind you of that, not to tell you that you have to go the other way. My job is to tell you, like, OK, look what they're doing. They're trying to do this.”
Bobby Portis, who also has his own podcast, had a must-listen interview on 'Thanalysis'
That knowledge of the game translates well to the podcast. And a good example of this was Thanasis’ top-tier interview with his teammate Portis.
Portis said he was tired of being on “stinker teams” before coming to Milwaukee, called his time in Chicago “Chi-Raq,” (perfect, but only those who lived there can say it), and called B.S. on one of Shaquille O’Neal’s claims in a hilarious exchange. Portis also shared that his mom considered trying out for the WNBA and that he couldn’t beat her in basketball until he was about 13 years old.
“My mom tells me to be the garbage man on the basketball court,” Portis said.
It’s fabulous content.
But the insider hoops stuff is great. Portis details that after a DNP status for about the first 15 games of the season, his rookie year, in Chicago, the Bulls were at Charlotte.
“Kemba Walker cookin’ us; we’re down 30,” said Portis. “Coach put me in and I scored like 10 points in six minutes.”
Thanasis asked follow-up questions and Portis explained how valuable that time on the bench really was.
“I got a chance to watch my vets,” Portis said at the 19-minute mark of the Feb. 7 podcast. “I watched what Joakim Noah do; I took something from his game. That’s where I got the fake DHO (dribble hand off) from. From Joakim Noah. He would go like he was going to pass and then he would dunk that thing.
“And then Taj Gibson. What I got from him, he faces up, jabs, spin move, up and under. I got that from him.
“Then Pau Gasol, face-up jab. Shot sidestep.
“I took something from everybody’s game that I was watching for like 10-14 games. Then I tried to just work on it; add little bits and pieces to my game.”
Portis also launched his own podcast – "Keep It a Buck with Bobby Portis" – something he’s thought about and worked on for a while. The key, he said, is to be authentic and to use this as an opportunity, these podcasts, to talk about the man as much as the player.
“I had a good time” on "Thanalysis," Portis said. “Obviously he’s doing a good job with his thing; I’m proud of him.
“Once people sit down and actually listen to the person, and not just the basketball player ... obviously we get that side of people all the time, with their stories about basketball and how they got to their point in their careers. I think sometimes we don’t know the true person behind the jersey or the headband.”
Thanasis Antetokounmpo is a natural at being a podcast host
Thanasis is working with Bucks content director Nick Monroe and a team to prepare questions for the guests and organize their thoughts. The pod is not a rambling conversation, and the sound quality and editing is good.
The best part is that Thanasis, a natural talker who can fill an hour with his stories, holds back on his podcasts and listens, allowing the guest to take center stage. He avoids the most unattractive practice of podcasting and broadcasting: talking over one another, interrupting and screaming, and overpowering the show.
The only minor exception to this was when Thanasis had on his youngest brother Alex, who plays for the Wisconsin Herd, on the show, but it was still great. It felt like we were in the family living room, listening to the older brother lavish his youngest siblings with unsolicited advice.
But in every episode, Thanasis genuinely seems engaged in listening to his guest's story, which pulls us in, too.
Thanasis plans to keep the podcast going and will use the platform to share family news and happenings as well.
“I would love for people to give feedback, and who they would love to see,” said Thanasis.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Thanasis Antetokounmpo podcast Thanalysis goes beyond Bucks basketball
