After last night’s loss against Golden State, The Athletic’s Sam Amick questioned Giannis Antetokounmpo pretty directly about his future in Milwaukee. And the Bucks star delivered a message that will be music to Bucks’ fans’ ears (or at least the ones who want Giannis to remain a Buck the rest of his career): I’m not going anywhere. Read the conversation for yourself here, but let’s hit a few of the big points.
First of all, Giannis’ entire family and mother (plus an older brother, of course) are
in the locker room with him. None are in Greece, as some reported months ago. Amick leads off with this quote from the big fella:
“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say, ‘I want a trade. That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”
Sounds pretty clear that he’s never asked for one in the past, but I don’t know, should I not take him at his word and believe Brian Windhorst? Amick notes how forceful he’s being with those ellipses:
“The pauses between each of his words reflected a deliberateness that wasn’t there on Dec. 18, when his attempt to address the latest ESPN report about his possible departure resulted in a word-salad sort of news conference that only made the optics surrounding his situation worse. Yet this time around, Antetokounmpo’s message was quite clear.“
Amick prods him a little more about this, and mentions reporting, which has mostly come from Shams Charania at ESPN:
“Are you saying you wouldn’t [ask for a trade] publicly or privately, too?
Well, I have seen that my team said (in the media that), ‘If Giannis doesn’t ask for a trade, we’re not trading him,‘ so what does that tell you? That I have never gone and asked for a trade.
But as you said, things change every day. Just making sure. It could have happened at breakfast today.
Right. So just because I like my eggs scrambled today, I don’t have the opportunity to eat my eggs sunny-side up tomorrow? We’re human, right? So it’s the same thing in basketball. But again, in my nature, I will never. I will never. That’s not who I am.“
So he changes his mind, because it’s human, like he said before the season. Then he reiterates that it’s not in his nature to ask for a trade, and that he’ll never. Who are we to argue with him on this point?
Earlier in the interview, Giannis even hedges against the inevitable editorializing that people, like fans of other teams or talking heads, will do of his statements:
“…not one time have I shown that I’m not invested in this team. And if there was a time on the basketball court where you’ve seen that, ‘Oh, Giannis doesn’t look like he wants to be a part of this team no more,‘ I want you to pinpoint that. There’s never been an interview where I’ve said that. So I don’t know why people discredit what I say. Like, even when your article will come out … people will say, ‘Yeah, but. Yeah, but.’”
Sure, but that’s kind of why I wanted to see if you were willing and comfortable to say, listen, I’m not going anywhere right now.
I am not (going anywhere). I am invested in this team. I want to turn this team around. I want to play good basketball. I want to be healthy. I want to help my teammates. I wanna win games. The last six games we’ve played, we’re 4-2.“
Again, pardon me for taking the man at his word, but he clearly does not want to leave the team this year. Later on, he even says this:
“But you’re planning on being here through the end of the season, correct?
My plan is to be here for the rest of my career. If they don’t want me …“
Giannis had just finished talking about how he’s decided “as of today” that he wants to remain in Milwaukee. You can interpret that in a few ways, but this is how he explained it:
“I hear you, but that’s the stuff where the fans are then going to say, “Oh, he’s leaving an out.”
I don’t care. I really don’t. It doesn’t affect me at all. What I care about is basketball. I want to be good at what I do. And there’s some things that I have to do, which I will do on the basketball court. But until today, my guy (Bucks director of content) Nick (Monroe, who was standing nearby), has been with me for 13 years, and it’s been great. Tomorrow, when I wake up, it may not be great. Today, our relationship is great. Tomorrow it might be different.
It’s the same thing with my wife. Until today, my wife is great. She’s a great mother. She’s a great partner. She supports me. Until today. Tomorrow, she might wake up and be like, ‘I don’t want this. I fell out of love.‘ Until today, me and (Bucks general manager) Jon (Horst) have a good relationship. Tomorrow, (Horst) might think there’s something else out there, and he might have to do whatever he has to do.
You know, for me, right now, today, I am committed — not 100 percent, but 1 million percent to my teammates, to my craft, to this team and to this city. One million percent.“
Another forceful comment at the end, but while you might raise an eyebrow about “as of today,” look how he’s framing it. If he’s hedging that he could change his mind about the franchise at any point in the future, he’s using the example that the Bucks will be the ones changing theirs about him. Consistent with what he’s said in the past, where he’s referred to the fact that anybody, including him, could be traded at any point. And the Bucks aren’t going to be trading him. He’s the face of the franchise, keeps them relevant internationally, and above all, he keeps their profits coming in.
But once more, “one million percent” committed to the team and to Milwaukee right now. He can change his mind, of course, but does this sound like anyone who’s changing his mind anytime soon? Especially within the next four weeks leading up to the February 5th trade deadline?
Of course not, because he isn’t changing his mind before then. How do I know that? Giannis told us:
“You’re not saying anything that makes me believe you’ll use your voice to change your situation before the deadline.
No. No. I’m locked in. I am locked in to my craft. I’m locked in with the team. I am locked into the situation that I have in front of me. That’s pretty much it. And there will never be a scenario on this planet that I will ever quit on my team. That’s not in my nature.“
There’s more here in the Amick conversation, which we’ll get to in the coming days, but for now, let’s leave it here. Giannis will be a Milwaukee Buck for the next month at a minimum.
