Giannis Antetokounmpo's wife Mariah Riddlesprigger drops 5-word message for Bucks star's fans before game vs Bulls

Giannis Antetokounmpo's wife, Mariah Riddlesprigger, echoed the Bucks superstar's message while sitting courtside for his first home game of the year as Milwaukee hosted the Bulls on Friday. Riddlepsrigger took to Instagram, posting a story of her husband's pre-game introduction. She captioned it with a five-word message, saying:

"Let the redemption tour begin."

Mariah's story (Source: Instagram)

The message was reminiscent of what Giannis said in an interview released on Wednesday. He labeled his 12th season in the league as a 'redemption' because he felt he had been written off.

"This chapter right here. Think it's "The Redemption," Giannis said. "Feel like kinda, people have, I feel, I don't know, I feel like people have write me off. And I just got to get back to where I belong and take this team to where it belongs to. We gotta get our swag back up, and we will do it."

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks haven't made much noise since their 2021 NBA championship win. In 2022, they suffered a conference semis exit, and for the last two consecutive years, they have been knocked out by lesser favored opponents in the first round.

Giannis' injury troubles have contributed to those losses. In 2023 against the Heat, he wasn't fully healthy, dealing with a back injury. He missed Games 2 and 3 in that series. In 2024, he didn't play a single game as the Pacers beat the Bucks in five games.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's redemption season begins on a streaky note

Giannis Antetokounmpo's redemption season hasn't gotten off to the best of starts. After recording an impressive 124-109 win over the Joel Embiid and Paul George-less Philadelphia 76ers, Giannis' Bucks failed to win their home opener against the Chicago Bulls. They blew a first-half eight-point lead to lose 133-122.

Giannis was unstoppable with 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, shooting 65.2% from the floor, but he only made 8 of 16 attempts from the charity stripe. The Bucks had no answer for the Bulls' hot 3-point shooting night led by Coby White.

The Bulls made 21 3s, with White making seven of those, contributing to his 35-point night. Chicago also got handy contributions from Zach Lavine, who scored 28 points and Nikola Vucevic, who had 22.

Damian Lillard was the only player on the Bucks apart from Giannis to score over 25 points. He had 28 on 52.4% shooting. Gary Trent Jr.'s 11 and Tauren Prince's 10-point games were the next most valuable contributions.