13 years ago today: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s NBA debut was 4 minutes and 43 seconds, no shots and one free throw at Madison Square Garden

Thirteen years ago today, on October 30, 2013, an 18-year-old from Athens checked into his first NBA game at Madison Square Garden. Giannis Antetokounmpo played 4 minutes and 43 seconds for the Milwaukee Bucks, did not attempt a shot, and scored his first point on the second of two free throws. The Knicks won the season opener, 90-83.

It is one of the quietest debuts any great player has had. Antetokounmpo went on to become the leading scorer in Bucks history, a two-time MVP and the Finals MVP of the 2021 champions, and this month he played his first game for the Miami Heat.

Four minutes and 43 seconds

Antetokounmpo was the 15th pick in the 2013 draft and was 18 years and 328 days old that night. Coach Larry Drew sent him in for O.J. Mayo with 2:22 left in the first quarter and New York ahead 17-13.

With 1:07 left in the quarter he drew a shooting foul from Iman Shumpert. He missed the first free throw and made the second. Thirty-one seconds later he fouled Kenyon Martin at the other end.

Early in the second quarter a Knicks rookie, Tim Hardaway Jr., was called for a foul against him. Then, with 9:39 left in the half, Antetokounmpo was called for an offensive foul against Beno Udrih. Larry Sanders replaced him, and he did not play again.

His final line was 1 point, 1-of-2 free throws, no field-goal attempts, no rebounds, no assists, one turnover and two fouls in 4:43. Milwaukee was outscored by three points while he was on the floor.

The box score at the Garden

• Final: New York Knicks 90, Milwaukee Bucks 83, before 19,812 fans on Wednesday, October 30, 2013.
• By quarter: Milwaukee 18-13-33-19; New York 24-32-18-16. The Bucks won the third quarter by 15 but could not finish the comeback.
• Bucks: Gary Neal scored 16 off the bench, Caron Butler 14, and O.J. Mayo and Zaza Pachulia 13 each. Pachulia also had 11 rebounds. Khris Middleton, in his first game for Milwaukee, scored 2.
• Knicks: Carmelo Anthony had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Raymond Felton 18, Iman Shumpert 16 and Tyson Chandler 10. Hardaway, also making his NBA debut, scored 5 points on 2-of-2 shooting in 15 minutes.

‘Relax and just play your game’

Antetokounmpo described the night the following summer, after Drew had been replaced by Jason Kidd. He said he had posted a photo of himself with his first NBA coach from that game.

“I remember I had played just four minutes in that game, which is when coach Drew grabbed me, seeing that I was obviously stressed, lost, confused, and told me: ‘Relax and just play your game,'” he said.

Years later, he remembered it differently after seeing old video of himself checking in. “You could see my eyes like you could see a hunger. You know, I was 18. It was my first game and in Madison Square Garden,” he said. “I wasn’t aware of the big lights. I came from Greece, I came from the neighborhood Sepolia and you just put me on Madison Square Garden and I was like I don’t care. I’m just trying to hoop.”

Rookie Giannis was ready to put in the work- and the work paid off.

Listen to his first #NBAMediaDay interview ever. 🔊 pic.twitter.com/IP7VyVtgxQ

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) September 26, 2022

A 15-67 rookie year

• First field goals: Two nights later in Boston, he made 2 of 5 shots and scored 5 points in 12 minutes of a 105-98 win, the first of Milwaukee’s season.
• Best game: 16 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double, in a 104-93 loss at Brooklyn on December 27, 2013.
• Season line: 77 games, 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He made the All-Rookie team and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.
• The team: Milwaukee went 15-67 under Drew, the worst record in the league. Kidd took over that summer.

From one point to 21,531

Antetokounmpo played 895 regular-season games for Milwaukee over 13 seasons and scored 21,531 points, the most in franchise history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second with 14,211 and Middleton, who played in that 2013 opener, is third with 12,586.

He was the league’s Most Improved Player in 2017 and MVP in 2019 and 2020, when he was also Defensive Player of the Year. In 2021 he won the championship and the Finals MVP with Milwaukee. He has made 10 All-Star teams and 9 All-NBA teams.

The Bucks traded him to Miami before this season. In his first game for the Heat, on October 21, he scored 35 points on 13-of-19 shooting in a 131-106 loss to Minnesota. One of his new teammates is Hardaway, the other rookie who debuted at the Garden that night 13 years ago.