MILWAUKEE - Six years ago, Giannis Antetokounmpo was bagging groceries at a Milwaukee area Pick 'n Save.

That wasn't his day job, of course — he was part of an event the Milwaukee Bucks were hosting at the grocery store.

Patrick O'Brien, a lifelong Bucks fan, happened to recognize Antetokounmpo, a little-known rookie at the time, and stopped by his empty checkout lane.

"We went down there and, sure enough, he’s bagging groceries and no one is even paying attention to him — almost like he was just a regular employee," O'Brien said.

O'Brien, a 32-year-old who grew up in the Appleton area and lived in Milwaukee from 2008 to 2013, made sure that he, his 2-month-old son and wife got a picture with the now three-time NBA All-Star, knowing he was the future of the franchise.

Fast-forward to 2019 and the Bucks are having their most successful year since they made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2000-01 season. And Antetokounmpo — well, let's just say he wouldn't go unnoticed bagging groceries anymore.

Although many around the Bucks franchise knew the team was beginning to build something special this offseason, no one could have expected the level of excitement around the team to jump like it has in Wisconsin. And for fans of the forgotten team in Wisconsin sports, that's a reason to celebrate.

Get in line behind the Packers, Brewers and Badgers

Since 1990, the Bucks have only finished in the top half of the Eastern Conference twice — a fourth-place finish in the 1990-1991 season and a second-place finish in the 2000-2001 season. It's also been 18 years since the Bucks have won a playoff series in the Eastern Conference.

This consistently low level of success is the main reason the Bucks have lagged behind the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and University of Wisconsin Badgers in terms of fan interest for years, said Eric Nehm, a staff writer for The Athletic Wisconsin and co-host of the Locked on Bucks podcast.

"The team this year is the best team in the NBA currently and there are still people saying, 'It doesn’t mean anything until they win a playoff series,'" Nehm said. "I want to say that this is a different team than those other teams, but I can’t blame any Bucks fan that feels that way because it’s the truth."

The Brewers made a run to the seventh game of the National League Championship Series in 2018, won a playoff series in 2011 and made the playoffs in 2008. The Badgers basketball team made two Final Four appearances, in 2014 and 2015, while the football team won the Big Ten West Division title three of the past five years. Meanwhile, the Packers continue to sell out Lambeau Field, despite a rough stretch the past two seasons.

The playoff triumphs of other major Wisconsin sports teams makes the lack of success by the Bucks stand out, Nehm said.

"Even a franchise like the Brewers that has struggled and isn’t a perennial winner like the Packers or Wisconsin basketball and football — even they have had more postseason success than the Bucks," Nehm said. "That to me says a lot if you are trying to figure out why this team is where they are. They just haven’t really been all that good."

Another theory Nehm has played around with over the years is Wisconsin sports fans' distaste for pro basketball.

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Nehm said during his time covering the Bucks, he has continued to get messages from people who told him they weren't interested in the NBA. This led him to do some research.

As you look back at the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, Nehm said a lot of people were furious after the Bucks were eliminated by the Philadelphia 76ers and felt the league was rigged.

"Whether or not that is true doesn’t really matter. You could use all the facts and logic and say that’s not true, that’s not what they wanted," he said. "But no matter what the truth is, there are a large number of people that think the NBA is rigged and that is what turned them off from the game."

The next big thing in Wisconsin sports

It's no secret the Bucks are opening more than a few eyes this season.

The new Fiserv Forum has a capacity of 17,500 people and the Bucks are doing plenty to fill it up. By the All-Star break, the team had averaged 17,430 people per game, according to ESPN.

Television numbers have also started to jump with the continued success of the team. According to a January article by the Milwaukee Business Journal, the Milwaukee-area television audience for Bucks games on Fox Sports Wisconsin increased by about 7 percent during the first half of the season.

According to Nielsen, the Bucks have attracted an average of about 22,600 households during televised games on Fox Sports Wisconsin this season. A recent post on Fox Sports Wisconsin's Instagram page said this number has the team on pace for their best-rated season in 17 years.

Along with rising television and attendance numbers, the popularity of Bucks apparel continues to grow at Wisconsin retailers. Kohl's, a Wisconsin department store based in Menomonee Falls, is just one of many that has continued to beef up their deer-inspired clothing selection.

"We see increased customer demand for team merchandise whenever teams are doing well," Doug Howe, chief merchandising officer for Kohl's said. "We work aggressively to continue to refresh and replenish these items so they are available for our customers."

Loyal and lifelong Bucks fans

Fans who have stood by the Bucks through the lean years feel their loyalty is finally starting to pay off.

Alexander Juneau, 23, of Kaukauna said he always found a way to enjoy Bucks basketball, even when there wasn't much to be excited about.

He said he religiously discussed the team with other fans online, where he would talk about what the team needed to do to sneak into the playoffs.

"For me, I love basketball and though I have favorite players all over the nation at all levels of the sport, I always cheer for the home team," he said. "There was no option to be a bandwagon elsewhere."

O'Brien said what he remembers most about the down years was the team continued to settle for mediocrity, making trades to become a below-average playoff team. But he continued to soldier on as a fan.

During the 2013-14 season, Antetokounmpo's rookie year, O'Brien got together with Chris DeMarco, a former Appleton resident and scout with the Golden State Warriors at the time, before a Bucks-Warriors game.

O'Brien remembers DeMarco saying Antetokounmpo would be a star in the league one day and that the Bucks got a steal taking him so late in the draft. He wasn't wrong.

"I just kind of get chills when I think about that conversation," O'Brien said. "And now you fast forward to where we are now, and it's pretty cool."