NBA Star Giannis Antetokounmpo's Oreo Obsession Is Kind Of Adorable

The Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo is known for many things. He is one of the few players in NBA history to be awarded Kia MVP back to back, in 2019 and 2020, on top of being named Kia Defensive Player of the Year, too (via NBA). He is the first Greek national to be named an NBA MVP. And likely because of the way he plays, he's also known as the "Greek Freak" (via Al Jazeera). 

But while his fans can reel off Antetokounmpo's stats, there's probably one thing they don't know, and that is his love for Oreos. "When I came to the league, that was the first thing that I ate, because when I was younger I was always craving them, and could never afford them," he told WISN12 News reporter Steven Watson, who asked the star if "Oreos and milk" would be on his "Thanksgiving menu."  

Antetokounmpo joked about how many of his colleagues "spend money on cars and chains" when they land their first NBA contracts, but his first big paycheck had him dunking Oreos pretty much constantly. "I ate them for like a month straight," he said, adding, "No dinner, no lunch, no nothing. So I got sick of them, right? But I've had them." 

Oreos are Giannis Antetokounmpo's 'every night snack'

And then came the discovery that changed the basketball giant's life. Asked by a kid on a photo shoot if he'd "ever dunked them in milk," Antetokounmpo said he hadn't, to which the enthusiastic young mentor said, "You should try that!" 

Unfortunately, he didn't follow instructions to a T and ended up throwing the entire cookie into a glass of milk. Still, the combo appears to have changed his life. "I was like, 'What the h***? No frickin' way.' He was like, 'You like them?' I was like, 'Bro, this is amazing.' So, obviously I didn't have one. I had like twelve of them," he laughed, adding, "And then I realized from now on, that's an every night snack for me."

Antetokounmpo is not the only professional athlete with a serious sweet tooth. The Seattle Seahawk's Marshawn Lynch is such a big fan of Skittles, he turned his love of the fruit-flavored candy into a lucrative endorsement deal, per ESPN. Antetokounmpo's fellow basketball players, L.A. Lakers' Dwight Howard and New York Knicks' Derrick Rose, apparently also love to taste the rainbow, so to speak. In fact, Skittles rewarded the ballers for their public love of the sweet stuff, giving Rose his own Skittles-dispensing machine, and Howard a custom Skittles pinball machine (via CNBC). It sounds like if Antetokounmpo keeps gushing about his own confectionary craving, he might be swimming in Oreo swag in no time.