NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo Makes Significant Investment In Ready Nutrition

Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived in the U.S. from Greece in 2013 as an 18-year-old, 190-pound beanpole. He was the Milwaukee Bucks’ first-round pick in the NBA Draft and got pushed around his rookie season when he averaged less than seven points per game. But the raw talent was evident for Antetokounmpo, who didn’t pick up a basketball until he was 12 years old.

His body and game developed by leaps and bounds over the next six seasons. He packed on 50 pounds of muscle, and his scoring average increased each year. Last season’s NBA MVP award when he led the Bucks to the league’s best record was a crowning achievement. He was the MVP favorite again this year with the Bucks again owning the league’s top mark when the season was halted March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As Antetokounmpo’s on-court game has evolved, he’s also strived to improve his off-court investment game. The four-time All-Star made his first brand investment in emerging nutrition company Ready Nutrition, whose primary product is its Ready Water sports drink that competes with Gatorade, Powerade and BodyArmor. Going up against beverage giants Coca-Cola
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and PepsiCo
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doesn’t faze Antetokounmpo. “We want to get that No. 1 spot,” he says.

Antetokounmpo was drawn to Ready Nutrition’s founder Pat Cavanaugh, who also was an underdog who beat the odds. Cavanaugh was a walk-on basketball player in the late 1980s at the University of Pittsburgh, who later earned a scholarship and was named team captain. He launched Ready Nutrition in 2012 and posted sales of more than $100 million last year on double-digit growth. “What I love about Giannis, we both started from nothing and built ourselves up,” says Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh originally connected to the “Greek Freak” through another Greek basketball player, Sotiris Aggelopoulos, who followed Cavanaugh at Pitt. Antetokounmpo and Cavanaugh both talk about having a “shared mentality,” and their partnership evolved over 18 months, leading to today’s announcement by Ready Nutition of their superstar investor. There is an endorsement component in the agreement, but Giannis downplays that part of their pact. “This is not just an endorsement deal, it’s something I believe in. I love working with Pat,” he says.

Neither Cavanaugh nor Antetokounmpo would comment on terms of the deal, but it is expected to be substantial. “The best partnerships are ones that don’t necessarily need each other,” adds Antetkounmpo’s agent at Octagon, Alex Saratsis.

Antetokounmpo will have the bankroll to make more investments. He earned more than $40 million over the last 12 months from his salary and endorsements; he ranks in the top 20 of Forbes’ annual look at the world’s highest-paid athletes, set for publication Friday.

Nike
NKE
released the Zoom Freak 1 in 2019, and it was the largest initial signature shoe launch in Nike basketball history. In addition, Disney secured a deal this year to develop a movie around Antetokounmpo’s life, along the lines of “The Blind Side.” It is targeted for a 2022 release.

Sports stars using their massive platforms, connections and wallets to hunt and leverage investment opportunities is as much a part of the athlete playbook as the action on the field these days. Serena Williams and Kevin Durant have hit the venture capital world, while LeBron James and Stephen Curry launched their own media companies. “I’m not an expert on investments but I have a good team around me to help me learn about them,” says Antetokounmpo.

In addition to Saratsis, Antetokounmpo says he’s leaned on retired French NBA All-Star Tony Parker, as well as Kobe Bryant before his death, to help navigate off-court investments. He picks the brain of the Bucks’ ownership suite, Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, who all came from the finance world. But older brother and fellow NBAer, Thanasis, remains his go to resource. “He always keeps me grounded and gives me investment advice,” says Giannis.

Antetokounmpo is itching to get back on the court, as the Bucks have a chance to win the franchise’s first NBA title since 1971. “The NBA is going to do a great job prioritizing our health and keeping us and our families safe,” he says. “But I am a basketball player and I want to play basketball. I can’t live without basketball. I hope we can get playing again and kick some butt.”