Norman Johnson knows how to make an impression, especially where family is concerned.

If he had to pick up relatives from General Mitchell International Airport or give directions to his home on the Northwest Side, the longtime Milwaukee resident would cut up through Bay View, then up and over the Hoan Bridge, bringing Lake Michigan and Henry Maier Festival Park into view.

Then, past the Milwaukee Art Museum – maybe the wings of the Burke Brise Soleil would be opening – then wind up Lincoln Memorial, past Bradford Beach, up through Lake Drive, then cut over on Good Hope Road.

"Everybody knocks Milwaukee but they never come any further than just one spot," Johnson said. "If they come and go around they get a chance to see all the places. When you come in on an expressway you don’t see all of that. It’s beautiful. Beautiful."

It’s a ride his nephew Larry Drew hasn’t been able to make during family reunions because of an 11-year professional basketball career followed by another 21 as an NBA assistant and head coach.

It’s a ride the Milwaukee Bucks made sure to take him on as they recruited him to become the organization’s 13th head coach.

"Whenever we come to Milwaukee to play, we make it to the airport, we make it to the hotel, we make it to the arena and we make it back to the airport," Drew said Monday morning at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. "Most cases, when I come in here, it’s cold. And in most cases it’s snow. I am absolutely shocked, amazed, after getting around Milwaukee just seeing how beautiful this place is."

Johnson chuckled a little at that.

Drew grew up in Kansas City, not exactly a bastion of sun and warmth, and Johnson remembers a little boy who didn’t seem to mind Midwestern weather.

"It’s quite great to see him make it this far," Johnson said. "Growing up, he was a very nice young man. We had no problems with him. He seemed to enjoy coming to Milwaukee because of the season’s that we have, the four different seasons. A lot of people say it’s too cold but you can live through the cold."

Drew brought his uncle to his introductory press conference, along with his wife Sharon and two youngest sons Lindsey and Landon. It was a smaller family reunion of sorts for the 55-year-old, who has often missed the larger family gatherings his uncle has hosted.

During his first interview with the Bucks, general manager John Hammond toured him around the city – including that scenic stretch his uncle often brings family by.

Drew, who lives in California, was surprised to see the long beachfront. In town this weekend for his first official duties as the head coach, his family is staying in a hotel that overlooks not only Lake Michigan, but the Milwaukee River – two bodies of water even his wife, Sharon, and sons have never seen.

"We’ve been here a few times but it’s hotel and it’s out," she said. "You don’t get to see the beauty of Milwaukee. Our hotel room is overlooking the lake and a river – it’s beautiful. And we’re boaters, so we love water on the West Coast. I had no idea any of this was here in Milwaukee. It’s a beautiful city."

While Drew expressed his desire to get right to work helping in pre-draft evaluations and meeting or talking with Bucks players under contract for next season, he knows he won’t have to go far to get some truly local knowledge.

"It’s very nice to have that," Sharon Drew said. "Uncle Norman’s been living here for 48 years. Just how fortunate for him to be able to have his nephew here of the coach of the team. Whenever Larry’s in town visiting he’ll always come down to the games to support Larry. Now he’s got him here 24-7 to support. You couldn’t ask anything better. I think Uncle Norman hit the lotto having Larry here."