In basketball terms, "in the paint" refers to the area of a basketball court inside the lane lines from the baseline to the free-throw line. It gets the nickname from the painted area done on the courts that denotes its shape. But on the side of a large building in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the words "in the paint" have taken on a whole different meaning--literally! Last year, Mauricio Ramirez, who is a locally well known muralist, painted the larger than life figure of Giannis Antetokounmpo(pictured above). Giannis is a team member of the Milwaukee Bucks(champions from the NBA 2021 season, by the way). If you are not familiar with the Giannis story, it is amazing, inspiring, and from the stuff that dreams are made of. He went from being a young immigrant kid from Nigeria, selling trinkets on the streets of Greece(often going hungry and having to share shoes with all his brothers), to an NBA all-star, who now has a line of Nike athletic shoes named after himself. A great read about his story is the book, "Giannis - The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP," by Mirin Fader. If you've not read it, you should check it out. If you are more of the eating-popcorn-while-watching-a-movie type, Disney released the movie,"Rise," that tells of his incredible journey. If you live in Wisconsin, or ever plan to visit the city of Milwaukee, you can find the mural located at 600 E Wisconsin Ave. It's pretty hard to miss! If you aren't going to be in the neighborhood any time soon, below are a few more photos to enjoy of the mural in progress. You can also watch this short, local news story that was featured about the mural, and view a time lapse video of the mural being created here. In celebration of March Madness this year, if you live in the area, maybe stop by the mural and see it in person if you've not done so already. And, be sure to binge watch some hoops on TV!
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