Giannis Antetokounmpo is once again a committed Milwaukee Buck. For now.
“As of today, I’m committed to the Milwaukee Bucks,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN in an interview that aired Sunday.
“I’m committed to the people that I work with, my teammates, the coaching staff, Coach Doc (Rivers) and (general manager) Jon (Horst) in the front office. What I’ve said from the beginning of this year is that, out of my mouth and the way I’ve carried myself, you will never hear me say I don’t want to be a Milwaukee Buck.”
While it’s true that Antetokounmpo has never said he wants to book a one-way ticket out of Milwaukee, he has hinted at it.
The Greek Freak told The Athletic last month that he’d never ask for a trade from the Bucks before using a colorful analogy to explain that his feelings about his basketball home could change.
“So just because I like my eggs scrambled today, I don’t have the opportunity to eat my eggs sunny-side up tomorrow?” he said. “We’re human, right? So it’s the same thing in basketball.”
ESPN also reported ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline that Antetokounmpo had been ready to play his home games outside of Wisconsin for months, and that the Bucks had listened to offers for one of the best players of his generation. Both sides are expected to re-examine a possible trade this offseason, ESPN reported Sunday.
Even when he reiterated his commitment to the Bucks in his most recent interview, Antetokounmpo couldn’t help but openly share old dreams of ending up with other suitors.
“Growing up, you dream, ‘Oh, what if I played for the Knicks, Madison Square Garden? What if I get drafted by the Lakers and I’m teammates with Kobe? What if I go play for the Cavs and LeBron passes me the ball?'” Antetokounmpo said.
He also admitted to wondering how he’d fit with recent NBA champions like the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Winning has always seemed to be the motivation for Antetokounmpo’s wandering eye. The Bucks acquired Jrue Holiday in November 2020 after a couple of embarrassing postseason collapses that sparked concerns that Antetokounmpo would leave Milwaukee instead of signing a supermax. Milwaukee then flipped Holiday for Damian Lillard two years after winning a championship, following Antetokounmpo’s declaration that he wouldn’t sign an extension until he knew the team was committed to winning another title.
Now that the Bucks are a long way away from their glory days, sitting at 23-30 and in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo is again craving that winning taste. He made another food analogy to ESPN, likening not having won a title since 2021 to wanting another bite at a delicious steak.
“You want that steak again,” Antetokounmpo said.
However, he did make sure to give the city of Milwaukee a little bit more reassurance.
“This is my team, and I love it,” he added.
