Milwaukee Bucks: How Thanasis Antetokounmpo is starring in his role

It’s hard living in the shadow of a sibling, even if they’re younger than you. You’re constantly compared to them and have to wonder if you’ll ever live up to the expectations that they’ve set. For Thanasis Antetokounmpo, he has embraced that and it is paying off for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Thanasis isn’t someone who will let the success of his younger brother bother him or affect how he plays. It’s something that he leans into and is always the first one to hype up Giannis’ success on the sideline before, during, or after games. He has long been seen as the Bucks hype man or energy guy on the sideline and it’s a role he plays very well. Thanasis’ bench reactions are one of the more underrated parts of Bucks games.

This season, however, Thanasis has been asked to do more on the court due to the Bucks injury situation, especially in the frontcourt. He has averaged fewer than 10 minutes per game the last two seasons, although he did see a three-minute per game increase from his first season in Milwaukee to last year. This year he’s averaged nearly 18 minutes per game out of necessity, including his sixth career start on Monday against the Indiana Pacers. It has been a grind, but Thanasis is slowly becoming a more trusted part of the rotation.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo is excelling in his role for the Milwaukee Bucks

In his first year with the team, it was almost maddening to see Thanasis on the court. He played out of control and didn’t look like an NBA player at all. That’s why he was limited to 20 games and 6.5 minutes per game, it didn’t look like he belonged but he’s Giannis’ brother and many assumed that was the price the Bucks had to pay to keep their superstar happy.

So Thanasis was brought back for another season and slowly began to earn more responsibility. He played in 57 of the Bucks’ 72 games and saw right around 10 minutes per game. He expanded his game a little more and took 29 3s, seeing a slight uptick in his 3-point attempt rate. His turnover rate jumped up with more ball-handling in garbage time and games where the Bucks sat a good amount of their starters. Head coach Mike Budenholzer was finding out what Thanasis was good at, though. He’s a bundle of energy and flies around the court trying to draw fouls and get under the opponent’s skin. It led to one of my favorite moments of the 2020-21 Bucks season.

Budenholzer brought him in for the final three seconds of the first quarter and he immediately drew an offensive foul on Shake Milton before the ball was even inbounded. Those high-energy plays pump up the crowd and his teammates, which is kind of what he has become known for.

This season, there wasn’t a lot expected of Thanasis but there was some optimism that his energy could be some of what replaces P.J. Tucker’s invaluable locker room presence. So far, he has provided much more than that.

Thanasis has posted per 36-minute averages of 12.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, two assists, and a steal so far. He’s shooting a tidy 66.7 percent from the field (he has yet to attempt a 3) and has provided a solid interior rebounding presence without Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis in the early going. He’s posting a career-high 16.2 percent defensive rebounding rate, which is third on the team and has been a huge help in trying to weather the storm of frontcourt injuries.

If there is one thing that fans will complain about most is that he still fouls the bejesus out of opposing players, averaging six fouls per 36 minutes this season. Steve Jones Jr has described him as a running back wearing cross-trainers. He’s still a bit reckless and can play out of control at times when the game speeds up, but it’s much better than when he first came to the Bucks.

One of our goals for the 29-year-old was to achieve a new career-high in minutes and he is more than well on his way to doing that this season. Of course, it would mean something would have gone horribly wrong on the injury front if Thanasis continues to play nearly 18 minutes per game this season, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I don’t mean to overstate Thanasis’ importance to the team, he is still a role player who should see right around 10-12 minutes per game when everyone is healthy. They’re still losing the minutes when he’s on the floor, but for his personal growth, this has been an impressive start to the season for a player who wasn’t expected to do much of anything aside from getting the team hyped up and bringing energy in his limited minutes. One of his younger brother’s favorite mantras is to be a star in your role and that is what Thanasis has embodied that this season.

I admire Thanasis’ energy and excitement, he is always positive and that’s a great thing to have around your team every day. It may seem like Thanasis was a nepotism hiring at first, but he has found his niche in the NBA, has grown into his role, and is a fan favorite in Milwaukee.