By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Mar 31, 2020 at 5:31 PM

Tom Erickson is a lifelong basketball fan and a writer, so after getting inspired at a poetry event a few months ago, he decided to write 34 haiku about Bucks' superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

"The Bucks were playing great, I'm a big Giannis fan and April is National Poetry Month, so I decided to write 34 haikus to match his number," says Erickson.

Erickson started posting his haikus yesterday and will share one haiku per day on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. There's also a #haikus4hoops hashtag.

Erickson started writing the Greek Freak haikus – which are three-line Japanese poems – in early March and coincidentally wrote the last one on March 11, the day the NBA announced it was suspending the season. 

Erickson began writing poetry in college and since then wrote three – soon to be four – books of poetry

Erickson also encourages people to write their own "Giannis Haiku" and share with him via social media. Here's one from today:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Thomas J Erickson (@haikus4hoops) on


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.