Milwaukee, WI

What do readers think about Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo playing for the Greek national team this summer?

Published

2 years ago

June 6, 2024

What do readers think about Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo playing for the Greek national team this summer?

In early July, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to be back on the court for the first time since suffering a left soleus (calf) strain on April 9 that ended his season. Antetokounmpo will suit up for the Greek national team during an Olympic qualifying tournament July 2-7, and should it advance will earn a spot in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2008.

He did not play for Greece in the 2023 World Cup as he underwent left knee surgery. Antetokounmpo played 73 games for the Bucks last season – his most since 2017-18 – and was the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points per game while shooting at least 60% from the floor.

The 29-year-old missed the Bucks entire six-game playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers with the muscle strain. He missed two of the Bucks’ five games in a 2023 first-round playoff loss to Miami when he injured his back after being undercut by Heat forward Kevin Love after just 10 minutes of action in Game 1. He also suffered injuries in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs.

The Journal Sentinel recently ran a poll simply asking fans “should Giannis play for the Greek national team this summer?”

More: How Giannis Antetokounmpo learned to get over himself to play the best basketball of his career

Bucks fans react to Giannis playing for Greece

Of the Bucks fans weighing in on the poll, 62.8% said he should not play for Greek team this summer.

Why Giannis should play for Greece

Here is a sampling of some of the comments that came with “yes” votes (answers lightly edited for clarity):

Tony: Many NBA players are doing the same.

Mike B: He should be able to represent his country.

Mary S.: The US players are playing for their country.

Rich W.: It’s hard to believe you’re even asking this question. Giannis’ love of playing for his country is well documented. He has earned the right to make this decision without being questioned by Bucks fans, and it’s the worst sort of greed and entitlement to suggest he ignore the call of his national team.

Bill: He’s a professional basketball player at the peak of his powers. If the doctors clear him, it’s totally his decision.

Alex: Nationalism is a great thing. This is the prime of his career and he will have limited opportunities. Go Giannis!GP: Giannis needs to get back into basketball shape. Playing for the Greek national team can help facilitate that. His body should not be as tired since he did not play as much as in other years. He should probably be on minutes restrictions.

More: Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo named first-team all-NBA to cap historic season

Why Giannis should not play for Greece

Here is a sampling of some of the comments that came with “no” votes (answers lightly edited for clarity):

Jeremy: He missed all of this year’s playoffs and most of last year’s. Greece will not win anything special and he’s risking injury for all of this.

Jim C.: If he can’t make it to the playoffs because he is injured and tired, why risk it.

Mark B.: If he wasn’t often injured, fine, but the Bucks need Giannis healthy for a full season.

Bubba: The obvious. He was unable to make it through the last full NBA season. He should rest his body so he can actually contribute to the Bucks playoff run … which is what he gets paid for.

Peter: He wore down this season, international bb will leave G with no real off-season!

Tom: He’s paid to play for the Bucks and let’s face it, if he isn’t going to be healthy in the playoffs then what good is he to the team?!

Steve: He is always getting hurt. He doesn’t seem to realize that his body is starting to break down. He says he wants to stay healthy but yet he decides to put more stress on what is going to be a fragile body. Very ill-advised to go and play. Beginning to think that he really doesn’t care about the NBA. Seems like his heart is in Greece. He is not long to be in Milwaukee and a Buck. Getting tired of his antics.

What is Giannis’ history playing for Greece?

Antetokounmpo first played for Greece in the 2014 World Cup, in which it took ninth place. He then played in the 2015 EuroBasket tournament, the 2019 World Cup and 2022 EuroBasket.

In the 2014-15 Bucks season, Antetokounmpo started 71 of 81 games and finished seventh in the Most Improved Player voting after averaging 12.7 points per game. The Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs in six games to Chicago.

In the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season, Antetokounmpo won his second MVP while also winning the defensive player of the year award, becoming just the third player to win both in a single season. He sprained an ankle in the “bubble” playoffs vs. Miami, however, and the Bucks were bounced in the second round.

In the 2022-23 campaign, Antetokounmpo finished the year averaging a career-high 31.1 points per game in leading the Bucks to the top-seed in the Eastern Conference. But after taking a hard fall in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series with Miami, the Bucks lost to the Heat in five games as Antetokounmpo missed Games 2 and 3.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee Brewers overpower Detroit Tigers to win 12-4

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1 hour ago

April 22, 2026

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Milwaukee Brewers overpower Detroit Tigers to win 12-4

Brice Turang drove in four runs and David Hamilton had four hits as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the Detroit Tigers 12-4 on Tuesday night.

Despite missing their top three hitters, the Brewers put 19 runners on base and scored in double digits for the second time this season. They have won five of six.

All nine Milwaukee starters reached base at least once, and Detroit catcher/knuckleballer Jake Rogers limited the damage by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

Detroit lost its second straight after winning eight of nine.

Milwaukee used speed and small ball to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Garrett Mitchell led off with an infield single, took second on a walk and scored on Sal Frelick’s base hit. Hamilton beat out a bunt to load the bases.

After Blake Perkins struck out, Turang lined a two-run single to right. Turang, though, got caught in a rundown between first and second and the Tigers threw Hamilton out at the plate when he tried to score.

Detroit loaded the bases with no one out in the fourth, but Grant Anderson relieved Harrison and got Javier Báez to ground into a double play. That made it 3-1, but Anderson struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter to end the inning.

The Brewers made it 5-1 in the seventh on RBI singles by Turang and William Contreras.

Milwaukee added seven runs in an 11-batter eighth, an inning that included the fourth triple of Gary Sanchez’s 12-year MLB career.

Detroit scored three times in the ninth inning to cut the final margin to eight runs.

The teams continue the series on Wednesday night with the second of three games. Detroit RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 2.78) is scheduled to face RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.95).

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee County overdose deaths continue to fall, but challenges remain

Published

13 hours ago

April 21, 2026

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Milwaukee County overdose deaths continue to fall, but challenges remain

New data show 387 drug overdose deaths in Milwaukee County in 2025, down about 43% from their peak in 2022.
County officials credit efforts to increase access to Narcan, addiction treatment and drug testing strips.
Overdose deaths caused by multiple drugs are still a concern. The combination of cocaine and fentanyl was most prevalent in the county in 2025.
The county is spending $111 million over the next several years in opioid settlement funds.

The number of Milwaukee County residents who died from a drug overdose fell for a third year in 2025, which county officials say is a promising sign that more money spent on harm reduction, treatment and prevention efforts is working.

New data released April 21 show 387 overdose deaths across the county last year, down about 43% from their peak in 2022.

“The work is paying off,” Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy adviser, said at a news conference, touting the county’s vending machines stocked with Narcan and drug testing strips, as well as a state-sponsored data collection system that helps local health departments understand when and where overdoses occur.

Still, the hundreds of county residents who lost their lives last year to a drug overdose means that work isn’t close to done, officials say – especially as the drug landscape continues to change, presenting new challenges.

“We can’t let our foot off the gas quite yet,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

Drug mixing continues to drive lethal outcomes

Milwaukee County’s decline in overdose deaths is a trend mirrored across the state and the country, following years of climbing fatalities that were deemed a public health crisis.

The county will spend $111 million in opioid settlement funds over the next several years and is already putting what it has received to use, focusing on “reaching residents where they are,” said Jeremy Triblett, prevention integration manager with the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.

That includes initiatives like the harm reduction vending machines and also knocking on doors, providing county EMS workers with Narcan and seeking the opinions of people who use drugs to shape the county’s strategy.

But officials say they still see a concerning trend of combinations of drugs leading to overdose, particularly fentanyl being cut with stimulants such as cocaine. These mixes of drugs make it harder to reverse an overdose, said Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak, Milwaukee County’s chief medical examiner.

Nearly a third of all autopsies the medical examiner’s office conducted in 2025 were deaths by drug overdose, Tlomak said, and the majority involved multiple drugs. Data show the most common combinations were fentanyl and cocaine, cocaine and alcohol, and opoids and fentanyl.

Methamphetamines are also involved in more overdose deaths than a few years ago, Tlomak said.

For drug users, not knowing exactly what’s in the drug they are getting is one of the most dangerous elements of the current drug landscape, she said.

Fatal drug overdoses were most common among American Indian and Alaska Native residents in 2025, the data show, followed by Black residents. About two-thirds of fatal overdoses were in men, and the median age of death from an overdose was 49, a number that’s been climbing steadily since 2018.

Triblett said the county is focusing on how substances interact with cultural norms in different communities and that a community advisory board is convening to develop harm reduction messaging for specific populations. His team will also host a door-knocking event June 12 to reach new people across the county with prevention and treatment resources.

Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@usatodayco.com.

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Milwaukee, WI

What to know about Michael Lock as police execute warrant on his former home

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

What to know about Michael Lock as police execute warrant on his former home

Milwaukee police on Monday, April 20, began digging up a home once owned by notorious Milwaukee drug dealer Michael Lock.

The dig marks another chapter in Lock’s long criminal history in Milwaukee, which has included convictions for homicide, drug dealing, kidnapping, torture and running a prostitution ring.

As of 6 p.m., April 20, police had partially dug up the concrete driveway and yard in Lock’s former home. Lock has been convicted of murders of other drug dealers whose bodies were found under concrete slabs at a different home he owned.

As the dig continues, here’s what to know about Lock:

Who is Michael Lock?

Lock was the head of a murderous criminal organization known as the “Body Snatchers” and one of the leading criminal operators in Milwaukee until his 2007 arrest.

Over the course of a decade, Lock’s organization sold large volumes of cocaine, tortured and killed other dealers, prostituted women across the Midwest and ran a mortgage fraud scheme.

A jury convicted Lock in July 2008 in the homicides of two drug dealers in 1999 and 2000, whose remains were found in 2005 under concrete slabs in the backyard of a home once owned by Lock at 4900 W. Fiebrantz Ave. He has also been found guilty of running a prostitution ring, various kidnapping and drug dealing charges and mortgage fraud.

Where is Michael Lock now?

Lock is is serving multiple terms of life in prison at Waupun Correctional Institution without the chance of parole.

Where are Milwaukee police digging on April 20?

Milwaukee police confirmed they are executing a search warrant at the home on 4343 N. 15th St. in Milwaukee’s north side. City tax records show the property is owned by Shalanda Roberts, formerly Shalanda Lock, Michael Lock’s former wife.

Why are police digging up the yard of Lock’s former home?

There has long been suspicion on the part of law enforcement that there are additional bodies buried under the yard. In 2011, police dug another Milwaukee yard looking for remains.

In that warrant 15 years ago, investigators said at least four victims are buried somewhere in Milwaukee. Before that, police had dug a half-dozen other yards. Police have found no remains in the other digs.

Who lives at the property now?

It is unclear if anyone currently lives at the North 15th Street property. Shalanda Roberts told the Journal Sentinel she owns the property where police are digging, but it is a rental and she lives out of state now.

She said she has no information on the dig and has not spoken to her former husband in years.