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Giannis Antetokounmpo Once Had to Hitch a Ride to a Game With Strangers

There was a great moment immediately after the Bucks’ Game 6 win over the Suns when ESPN’s cameras captured Giannis sitting by himself in a seat behind the basket, overcome with emotion.

The story of Giannis’s journey to the NBA is well known by now, but still amazing. Knowing where he came from and the kind of shy, skinny 18-year-old he was when he first arrived in Milwaukee makes his Finals breakout especially remarkable.

Take, for example, this anecdote from a March 2014 Sports Illustrated article by Chris Mannix:

In December, Antetokounmpo took a taxi from his suburban Milwaukee home to a nearby Western Union.