Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t the only member of the Milwaukee Bucks family who’ll play a big part in the Paris Olympics.

Johnny Watson, the Bucks’ executive producer of broadcast and live events, will, too.

Watson and Antetokounmpo will both help lead teams — just in their own ways. Antetokounmpo will be representing his home country of Greece from the court, and Watson will be courtside as a venue producer for all men’s and women’s basketball games.

“It’s one of the most prominent sporting entertainment in the world,” Watson said. “It’s a huge deal. I’m honored.”

Watson will be show-calling, aka producing, the basketball games’ in-arena presentations with videos, graphics, music, special effects, lighting, on-court entertainment and national anthems. To pull this off, he’ll be working with a crew of at least 25 people per game who’ve come from around the world, including France, Finland, Australia, Canada and the U.S.

While this may sound like a lot, Watson’s done it before. He worked the men’s basketball games and the women’s basketball medal rounds for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Plus, the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China in 2019 and in Indonesia in 2023.

Watson said it’s nearly the same as what he does for Bucks games at Fiserv Forum. And, internationally with his team on occasion, like when the Bucks played in London in 2015 and Abu Dhabi in 2022.

Here’s a glimpse into Watson’s Olympic journey, from planning meetings that began months ago to what a day in his life will look like during the Games.

“It’s obviously an honor to be here, represent Milwaukee, the Bucks, my family,” Watson said. “It’s pretty special to be a part of it.”

From months of meetings to what game days will look like

About six months ago, Watson started having meetings for the Olympics, which ramped up as the Games got closer. Those meetings focused on processes, staffing, logistics and more, he said. Once that was solidified, planning the programs, what the shows will look like, commenced.

Watson arrived in Paris in mid-July and took an hour train ride to Lille, where the group phases will take place. He’ll head to Paris proper for the medal rounds and stay there through Aug. 13.

There will be four basketball games a day. Watson will arrive about two hours before the first for meetings and to rehearse, step-by-step, what he and his team — including talent, music DJs and graphic operators — will be doing during the game.

“Then, the doors open and you go and you start,” he said.

When the game ends, Watson and his crew will meet and rehearse for the next one.

“It makes for a really long day, but it’s the Olympics,” Watson said. “It’s the pinnacle of sport.”

Watson will be reunited with fellow Bucks representative Giannis Antetokounmpo when Greece takes on Canada Saturday. Antetokounmpo helped lead his home country into its first Games in men’s basketball since 2008 and was a flag bearer for the opening ceremonies.

Heading into his 13th season with the Bucks, Watson’s been with the organization since B.A., before Antetokounmpo.

“To see his growth and know his story now of where he came from and how much it means to him to be a part of the Olympics is pretty, pretty special,” Watson said. “I’m really excited to obviously see him and see some of the other Bucks staff here, too.”

With this being Watson’s first time in Paris, he’s carved out time to explore before heading back home. He’s planning to check out the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Champs-Élysées.

The Bucks’ Johnny Watson will be headed to the US Open in New York next

As if the Olympics weren’t enough for one summer, Watson will be off to the US Open in New York next month to be a stadium director.

As a former All-American tennis player at Coe College with numerous accolades in the sport, this is a “bucket list lifelong dream” for him.

Watson has attended the U.S. Open as a fan with his dad — who got Watson into tennis when he was 7 — around six times.

Watson helped out with the event for the first time in 2022. He mainly co-managed content for the screens at the Flushing Meadows grounds. His role this time around will be more what he does with the Bucks, he said — programming shows and making them happen.

“My main priority is the (Bucks), but the fact that they look at this as professional development, something I’m very passionate about …” Watson said. “The fact that they give me the opportunity to do this or they tell me it’s OK to do these things in the summer and other times, it means a lot to me.”

Another commissioner is leaving the Social Development Commission board, as leaders continue to work on a restructuring plan, SDC attorney William Sulton said Friday.

Sulton said Serina Chavez, who was elected to represent SDC’s District 5 and serves as the board’s secretary, indicated that she planned to resign at the Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday at the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, 1920 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 

He received her official resignation on Friday. 

“She indicates in her correspondence that essentially that the work that’s necessary is beyond what she is able to commit,” Sulton said. 

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Chavez’s resignation follows the departure of four board members, including former board chair Elmer Moore Jr., since SDC suspended operations and laid off its employees in late April.

The all-volunteer board has met frequently since the spring to sort through new information and work on a plan to reopen SDC, handling its day-to-day operations. 

Most of Thursday’s board meeting was spent in closed session.

Here’s more on the SDC

Tax appointments for former SDC clients will close at IRS office on July 24

‘It’s heartbreaking’: Residents, vendors left in limbo after SDC’s closing

SDC’s inconsistent meeting notices raise transparency concerns. Here’s what you need to know.

What you need to know about the SDC’s closing

Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Milwaukee Brewing & Distilling Company  – owned by Eagle Park Brewing – has announced that its new taproom in Bay View will have its soft opening on Friday, Aug. 2.

A grand opening event with live music and more will take place on Saturday, Aug. 17.

The taproom is in the former Tonic Tavern, 2335 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., which has been renovated.

The new venue will not have a brewhouse. It will feature a range of beers and spirits made by Milwaukee Brewing & Distilling Company at its Muskego facility.

Milwaukee Brewing will continue the Tonic tradition of hosting live music. There is an indoor stage.

Tonic’s large outdoor area has been remodeled.

“Much of the work on the space was cosmetic besides the new patio,” says co owner Jake Schinker. “We loved Tonic Tavern and it was a careful balancing act to choose what to update and what to keep.

“We wanted it to feel new but still keep it familiar to those in the neighborhood that frequented here.”

Eagle Park’s roots are in Bay View, where it opened in 2017 in the Lincoln Warehouse on 1st and Becher Streets.

“Bay View holds a special place in our hearts,” says Schinker. “When we left our original location here in 2018 we were sad to leave, but being back here and being part of the wave of new businesses opening in the area is amazing!

“It already feels like we never left.”

The new taproom was announced this past spring. Tonic Tavern closed in February.

When Eagle Park Brewing and Distilling bought the brands of the closed Milwaukee Brewing Company in September 2022, Schinker told us that he and his partners planned a taproom focused on the brand.

Milwaukee Brewing Company opened in 1997. It closed its Brewery District taproom in August 2022 and sold the business and facility to Pilot Project Brewing.

Eagle Park has taprooms on Milwaukee’s East Side and in Muskego, where it operates its production facility.