Middleton's Olympic dream, or an NBA champion, met the alphabet brother he is the happiest player

Middleton's wife saved him from the Olympic dream he nearly missed.

Middleton won't play in the Milwaukee Bucks' first game of preseason on Tuesday night because of a minor injury to his hamstring muscles, but he still travels to early training with Nike's basketball shoes and brisk sandals with the word "USA" printed on them.

From light luxury brand Ralph Lauren, these delicate sandals commemorate Middleton's bizarre, meaningful and unforgettable summer.

You already know the story: Middleton won the first championship of his Bucks career, and two weeks later he was the gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics. Middleton, like his Bucks and U.S. teammate Juil Holliday, won both the NBA championship and the Olympic gold medal in the same summer. Also winners of this honor are LeBron James, Kyrie Owen, Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen.

But during this time, the Middleton family had a little tangled, warm, and touching vignette.

Middleton's wife, Samantha, gave birth to a second child for Middleton within hours of the Bucks' G6 game against the Suns, and Middleton felt that leaving home for Tokyo at this time was a bit excessive, especially at this point in time when the pressure of the playoffs was released and a new son was born. So he said he planned to quit the U.S. men's basketball team this summer.

"Becoming a member of the national team at the Olympics is a big dream of my career, but it is also my dream to be a father again. So I had two dreams to achieve, but had to give up one of them for the time being, and this tangled feeling cannot be described in words. Middleton said in an interview with The Athletic in Memphis on Tuesday.

"So I had plans to quit the U.S. men's basketball team," Middleton said. "It was a little baby, my dear son, and no one wanted to miss the good times of the weeks, or even months, when he was born, and didn't want to miss anything about him. But my wife always told me not to worry, they would be at home and wait for me to come back safely. ”

Middleton was reluctant to share the name of his youngest son. And their eldest daughter, named Audrey, is two years old and was born in April 2019.

It's not entirely a secret that Middleton's wife is pregnant with her second child — the Bucks know the details of the matter and are willing to give the family all the help they need — and even so, it's not known to the public, especially during the Finals.

Later, U.S. coach Grieg Popovich announced the news after the team beat Australia and won the gold medal on August 5, especially when highlighting the sacrifices made by the players to come to Tokyo, Popovich blurted out: "Middleton rushed to the United States the next day to report on the situation that the finals had just ended and his wife had just given birth to her second child. Now that I think about it, Middleton's wife has paid no less than he himself. So this honor belongs not only to Middleton, but also to Samantha. ”

As soon as the news was exposed, not only did the Bucks fans look at it, but even the reporters accompanying the American team were shocked. Including Middleton himself. In the hours after the gold medal, he was interviewed by Zoom at the hotel, and the reporter mentioned the problem to him, and he did not want to talk about it.

"That mixed feeling," Middleton said in an interview with The Athletic. "I'm proud because I'm part of the Dream Team, but at the same time I blame myself for not being there when my family needed me most."

Middleton shared all the details of the story in an interview in Memphis, which really made people realize how hard his journey has been this summer. From eliminating the Suns and briefly celebrating the victory, to flying to Tokyo a few hours before Team USA's first Olympic match.

On July 17, the Bucks fought the Suns in the G5 Battle of King Mountain in Phoenix, where the two teams were all but tied, and Middleton scored 29 points in this thrilling game to help the Bucks take the victory from the Suns in the final moments. The Bucks spent the night in the Phoenix Desert-like weather and set off for Milwaukee on Sunday to prepare for the G6 on July 20.

The individual scoring record for Game 6 of the Finals was FMVP Antetokounmpo, who slashed 50 points, while Middleton ended his playoff journey with 17 points. Antetokounmpo was injured in the division finals, and the Bucks relied on Middleton's help. Middleton averaged 24 points in six Finals games.

The celebration continued until the morning of July 21, from the G6 match to 2:30 a.m., Antetokounmpo did not leave the Fiserv Plaza Arena, he was reluctant to take off his jersey, and has been in the locker room, celebrating while giving media interviews.

The team hosted two parties immediately after G6, which Middleton also attended, and he celebrated the victory with his brothers on the same team. But Samantha's time to give birth was just around the corner, so Middleton returned home around four o'clock – the race had just ended and it was still too late.

"I was so excited, so excited I couldn't sleep, so I kept my eyes open," Middleton said. "I closed my eyes for about 30 minutes and it was time for production."

Middleton took Samantha to a local Milwaukee hospital around seven o'clock, and on Wednesday, July 21, his son was born.

He spent a day and a night with his wife and newborn son, the mother and son safe, and after leaving the hospital, he took part in the Bucks' championship parade in the downtown area on Thursday. After the event, I ran home and packed my bags for Tokyo and went to the hospital again. On Friday, July 23, Middleton and Juil Holliday flew to Seattle, flew to Tokyo on a joint flight after the Booker round with the Suns, and arrived in time for the opening match against France.

In that game, Juo Holliday started the game, Booker also played 19 minutes, while Middleton only played 6 minutes. Middleton was one of only two remaining players on the U.S. team that played in the 2019 Men's Basketball World Cup, and although that team did not perform well in China, it still qualified for the Olympics.

Now, we can fully understand the reason for Middleton's short playing time, after all, he did not have enough sleep, and he had to endure the regret of not being able to reunite with his wife and children.

Middleton has been named to the NBA All-Star Team twice and is the Bucks' internal scoring average of 20+ points per game. In the United States, Middleton is the player with the least playing time in the rotation (averaging 15.7 minutes per game), and the total score of the entire Olympic game is only 35 points.

That's the story that happened on the star-studded Dream Team squad — the number of players in the big package seemed to be reduced, in fact there was only one ball, the time was fixed, and Kevin Durant and Jason Tatum played both middleton's positions.

Middleton is not a man who will complain, and never will be. When he made the decision to board a plane to Seattle, he could have chosen to stay home and enjoy the day, and no one would blame him.

While the Bucks are working hard to win the championship, the U.S. team is going through all kinds of troubles. They lost their first two warm-up games, Bradley Beal had to quit the team because of the new crown infection, Kevin Love also gave up the game because his physical condition did not help the team, and Zach Lavin was forced to quarantine because of the new crown contact problem. In short, the journey to win gold is bound to be bumpy, from Milwaukee to Tokyo is also a dusty voyage, and Middleton's playing time and possession will certainly be weakened.

But Samantha didn't want to see Middleton abandon his Olympic dream.

"I told her I wanted to be with her and the kids," Middleton said. "She kept provoking me and encouraging me to be part of the Dream Team." She told me that countless athletes have sacrificed their careers to compete for the national team and have worked hard to get the chance to become an Olympic gold medalist. This hard-won opportunity may only happen once in a lifetime, and she hopes I can cherish it. In particular, I don't want to give up my Olympic dream because of family affairs. ”

"Her strong willpower is something I can't refute, and her strong determination convinces me that she will wait for me to come back safely at home with her children."

Middleton, who had a gold medal around his neck, eventually returned home and returned to the family life of nursing in the middle of the night with Samantha. Sometimes the eldest daughter and the younger son will wake up at the same time in the night, "then I have to find a way to put them to sleep." It was just the most ordinary night in my family life, but it was the best parent-child time I missed on my Olympic trip. Middleton said.

Samantha did not break her word, and the family welcomed Middleton's return safely at home. And Middleton also completed the task of winning the gold medal... He also took his delicate Team Usa sandals with him.