FULL-COURT PRESS: Bucks star suing home-remodeling contractor

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo grabs a rebound against the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 20 in Atlanta. Giannis is suing a home-remodeling contractor from Cedarburg, contending the contractor didn’t perform the work he was hired for. (AP Photo/Brett Davis)

The Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is suing a Cedarburg contractor for failing to perform nearly $250,000 worth of remodeling work at his home.

David Gonzalez, of Cedarburg, was hired by Antetokounmpo in November 2018 to remodel the basketball player’s house in the Milwaukee suburb of River Hills, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Monday. Gonzalez was to perform a range of work, including doing “extensive” painting, installing an exterior fence, remodeling a basement, doing flooring work and building a shoe closet.

According to the suit, Gonzalez “did not perform the work called for in the description of labor in a workmanlike manner, and some construction was never completed at all.” Christopher Strobehn and Russell Karnes, of Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown are representing Antetokoumnpo. Gonzalez hasn’t yet responded to the suit.

Gonzales operates DIG Enterprises, a Cedarburg company that also does business as Antisdel & Son Construction. Gonzalez didn’t return an email for comment by press time Thursday and his voicemail box was full. According to a website run by DIG Enterprises, the company also operates a company called Synoptic Property Management and another called Bluetail Imports, which purports to offer inexpensive construction materials.

Although Antetokounmpo hired the company and paid Gonzalez thousands in advance for the work, Gonzalez failed to prepare a “formal written contract” for the project, according to the suit. The entire project was expected to cost $238,154, including a $40,000 down payment.

The lawsuit also claims that Antetokounmpo paid $144,000 for the installation of a fence around his house, but Gonzalez never got the necessary municipal permits and never began the work.

Antetokounmpo sent a written offer to settle the dispute before filing the lawsuit, but Gonzalez never responded.

“Defendants misappropriated the money intended to construct the fence and failed to refund the money to Antetokounmpo,” according to the suit.