Giannis Antetokounmpo is featured in a year-round mural that will highlight the Greek basketball player’s contribution, two-time NBA MVP, in downtown Milwaukee.
The mural is 16.3 meters high and 17.22 meters high and covers the side of a three-story building. It shows Antetokounmpo from behind in a Milwaukee Bucks jersey with his hands on his hips.
The mural’s author, Mauricio Ramirez, signed his work Friday, several hours before Antetokounmpo and the Bucks face the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Ramírez, who specializes in murals and has many works on display in Milwaukee, said that after several years he decided to create something in homage to Antetokounmpo.
Last season, the 6-foot-11 forward helped the Bucks win their first NBA championship in half a century. The player scored 50 points in the sixth game, in which the Bucks won the title after defeating the Phoenix Suns.
“I thought it would be great to do a proper mural about Giannis, not one in the alley, not one next to a convenience store,” Ramírez said. “We wanted to do one where we gave him good visibility, because he has given visibility to the city of Milwaukee.”
Dan Nelson, Jr., a longtime Bucks fan and season ticket shopper, owns the property at 600 East Wiskonsin Av. in Milwaukee and authorized the development of the mural next to the structure.
Ramírez began performing it on April 25. Hundreds of fans turned out for the mural’s completion ceremony and many took selfies.
Antetokounmpo did not attend the event because he was preparing for Game 6 but said he appreciated the mural. “It’s unbelievable,” Antetokounmpo declared at the end of a recent postseason game.
