NBA playoffs 2022 - Giannis Antetokounmpo -- an MVP and dad joke GOAT

The comedian walks to his stage. It's a late-night set, and he might have new material because he's carrying his joke book. That doesn't affect his confidence. He is ebullient and working his audience.

«Get ready, get ready,» he says with a beaming smile, sitting down behind a microphone. The backdrop isn't the stereotypical brick wall of a comedy club — it's a photo backdrop with the Milwaukee Bucks' logo and sponsors on it.

The comedian has every reason to be confident. He is Giannis Antetokounmpo, and he's got jokes.

«What do you call a cow on the floor?»

«Ground beef.»

Antetokounmpo cracks himself up. There are a few chuckles from his audience — the media members at the Bucks' postgame news conference following a 118-116 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on March 29, less than two weeks before the start of the NBA playoffs.

While Jerry Seinfeld works in observational humor and Jerrod Carmichael has a more contemplative and introspective style, Antetokounmpo has his preferred comedic medium: the «dad joke.»

The book from which Antetokounmpo read in late March is titled «Dad Jokes: the Good. the Bad. the Terrible.» The author, who goes by the pseudonym Jimmy Niro, is a former Milwaukee resident, and he couldn't believe it when his publisher told him that Antetokounmpo was reading from his book.

«Honestly, I'm still shocked,» Niro told ESPN. «I did these books for fun, really, so seeing them out in the world and loved by people is truly amazing.»

Niro is the father of five children whom he regularly embarrasses with dad jokes. He calls his material «my type of humor,» and his joke-writing process involves looking for specific topics or human interests that anyone can relate to, such as food, sports or holidays.