Mandatory Milwaukee: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee ambassador

Some places come and go, while some signs become icons. Mandatory Milwaukee is all about the latter. Join us as we revisit beloved and well-worn local staples with fresh eyes, and explore how they might figure in the city’s future. This week: that hilarious Giannis video from yesterday.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo needs no introduction, so let’s just get to the good stuff: a video of Giannis extolling the beauty and warmth of Milwaukee while standing on a desolate Milwaukee beach (Grant Park in South Milwaukee, to be exact) on a 50-degree day in March. Giannis tweeted this gem out yesterday, March 20, which was the first day of spring. It was kind of nice outside. (Maybe it got up to 55-ish?)

Welcome to beautiful and warm Milwaukee ☀️ pic.twitter.com/DqAZOeKtxo

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) March 20, 2022

“Hey, this is beautiful and warm Milwaukee,” says the Bucks MVP in the middle of filming what the internet says may be a Nike commercial. “Don’t look at the sweater. I could have no shirt on. This is our beach. Have you ever seen the beaches in Milwaukee? Beautiful. It’s my free agency pitch, you know? I’m trying to get players, man. Gotta do what I gotta do.”

Free agency pitch or no (more gold!), this is clearly the best Milwaukee tourism video since the time someone used a Peaches song about oral sex for a Downtown hype reel.

And that’s it! That’s the article! Where does this rank on the scale of Adorable/Hilarious Giannis Videos? Probably somewhere above last week’s beer-sipping video, but somewhere below the time he ordered 50 Chick-fil-A nuggets (“Not 51, not 49!”) and asked the girl’s permission before putting her on camera.