What happens when you don’t back Giannis Antetokounmpo? For now, the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans won’t have to worry about this situation. The Wisconsin franchise has ever since the 2013 draft backed him, even when he was just a lanky, 190-pound rookie. And the results are for everybody to see, as the Greek Freak turned out to be the crusader who ended the team’s fifty-year drought of winning a championship. But not everybody can be this patient, which resulted in a severe loss.

We are talking about a loss of $1.8 million. No, this was not about any fan betting against Giannis’ performance on the hardwood. But it’s a decade-old case that still haunts a fan for not trusting the 2x MVP. So what happened? In 2014, a collector bought Giannis Antetokounmpo’s most valuable rookie card ever for just $7,000 on eBay. Remember, Giannis was still developing and improving his conditioning. The performances weren’t screaming MVP numbers, as he averaged a mere 6.8 points per game.

He was also not the ROTY that season, so there was little evidence to back the Bucks star. But that wasn’t the reason for the fan to return the card. The fan found two minor faults in the card. There was an indentation and a yellow stain on the card. Naturally, being unhappy with the condition of his latest purchase, he returned the card for a full refund. That full refund turned out to be a loss worth $1.8 million.

Because the card was re-auctioned in 2020, this time after Giannis had won 2 Back-to-back MVPs. He also became only the third player in history, after Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon, to win the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. The 6-year-old Rookie card sold for a whopping $1,812,000, leaving its previous owner in disbelief. In fact, at the time, it even broke the record of being the most expensive basketball card in history.

Even Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, was surprised at the final amount. “The fact that we were able to achieve a new basketball card sale record for a player named something besides LeBron or Jordan shows the depth of the hobby.” It’s a hobby that even the Greek Freak likes collecting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and his backup plan after the NBA

Currently, the Bucks superstar is performing like a true champion. Even though there is still a debate about his future in Milwaukee, financially, the 30-year-old is set. Antetokounmpo, for his part, is still under contract with Milwaukee through 2026-27. He also has a player option worth $62 million for the following season. Not bad at all. But Giannis has already prepared a backup plan, if there is any need for an urgent cash crisis. It involves a signature and some cardboard pieces.

Back in 2021, Giannis Antetokounmpo mentioned having a backup plan in case he ever goes broke. Showing the collection of cards, he said that he can sign them and sell them, as they could become an expensive item one day. “BP [Bobby Portis], he’s going to sign this. This is going to be worth a lot one day. And Donte [DiVincenzo]! I’m looking for Pat [Connaughton] and Grayson’s [Allen]. Yeah, if I ever go broke, I’m going to sell them. Just to have a backup plan. You know, your parents always told you to have a backup plan? This is my backup plan.”

That backup plan has a slight change, as the 9x All-Star revealed a change to his signature. This past Saturday, Antetokounmpo attended the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago and explained his reasoning behind the change. When he first entered the league, he’d sign the G and the A initials, followed by the “kounmpo” portion of his last name. But when he thought about playing for a good 15 years or more, he realized that was too much to write. So, the price was the previous signature, and the rookie card seemingly went up again. As it becomes a rare item with an old signature.