Who finished 1-2 in All-Star fan voting this year? The logical guess: LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who served as captains by virtue of leading their conferences in voting.
But Giannis Antetokounmpo, even playing for the small-market Milwaukee Bucks, actually received more votes than Curry.
Antetokounmpo is a breakout star with an emerging profile that’s probably already larger than people realize. That and a great story landed him a “60 Minutes” profile.
Antetokounmpo, via Nick Friedell of ESPN:“To be honest with you, at first when my agent told me, ‘They want you to do an interview, a piece for “60 Minutes,” 'I was like, ‘What is “60 Minutes”?’ ” Antetokounmpo said after Tuesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. “I didn’t know what it was, but they told me it was really, really big. The last NBA player that was on it was LeBron James so I was like, ‘OK, cool. I’ll do it.’
“They told me they were going to talk about my childhood, where I came from and stuff like that, and I was like, ‘OK, that sounds good,’ and they were really, really good people. They made me feel comfortable and it worked really well.”
That profile has lifted Antetokounmpo’s brand even higher. It exposed him to many casual fans and even people who aren’t into basketball. With his fun-loving attitude and inspirational rise in Greece, he holds major crossover appeal.
And he’s just 23. There’s so much time for him to become a household name.
He’s headed that direction.
Here’s the segment:
