In a pregame interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski before last night’s 131-115 win over the Chicago Bulls—snapping a five-game losing streak—Giannis spoke candidly about where his head was at as the trade deadline looms. Following some banter, Owczarski posed the two-time MVP a serious question: what do you want?
“You know,” he said. “What I want deep down in my heart is I want to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of my career and win here.” Giannis then went into his legacy
with the Bucks:
“This is probably going to be the best story. In 20 years, they’re going to be talking about this story right here.
“I came here when I was 18. A human being, when is the time they have their earliest memories? Around the age of what, four, five, right? So from five to 18 is 13 years. From the time I could remember. I came here from 18 to 31, which is 13 years. I’ve spent more time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, than in my country.
“I’ve created more memories in this city than in my country. The only memory I knew from my country is sell stuff in the street, go to practice, live in fear, protect my brothers as much as I can and be a good kid, be a kind kid.
“So here, I’ll tell you what I’ve known here. I’ve known what it is to be an NBA player, what it is to make it to the NBA. I’ve learned what it is to be an All-Star player. I’ve learned how to be a champion. I’ve learned how to be an MVP. I’ve learned how to be a father. I got married in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And also, legally, from the courthouse. And also, I’ve had my kids here. My father is buried here.
“So people have the audacity to come tell me and say ‘this guy really doesn’t love Milwaukee.’ I don’t love Milwaukee? Not the people that know. The people of the city know how much I love them. This city has let me be myself, let me be father, have let me [be] a husband, have let me be my own, true, self.”
Giannis then addressed the elephant in the room: his future with the team. Rival teams are trying to trade for Antetokounmpo—either by the deadline or this offseason—and by all reports, the Bucks front office is now listening. Asked if he is in on these conversations, Giannis replied flatly, “Zero. Zero. I’m not.”
Of course, the reason the front office is listening to these offers—something they had not done at any other point in GA’s career—is because of the team’s record and standing in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Now 31 years old, Giannis wants to contend, but can GM Jon Horst and his team make that a reality anymore? Antetokounmpo acknowledged that a playoff appearance this season is unlikely but insisted he hasn’t lost faith in Horst’s ability to build a contender around him:
“I always listen. That’s why I’m still here. I always listen and trust. But what I’m trying to say, how many chances do I have left to win a championship? So, you just gotta [be] more careful and more urgent in every decision that you make moving forward. It doesn’t change. I think I’ve listened since day one and that will never change. I have great respect, love and likeness for Jon and the ownership and that will never be different. Won’t change. But at the end of the day… you gotta look.”
He revealed what he wants most of all for Milwaukee, also acknowledging that ownership has to be aligned with him:
“They let me be myself in this city. And I ask for one thing. One. Thing. Only. To make, bring joy back. To. This. City. Because this city deserves it. We’ve been at the top, and I know we can have down years, but we have to continue to have the mindset. Period. OK. And if that’s not the case, then…”
Giannis expounded in clearer terms:
“I know what my goal is. I don’t know what their goal [is]. I know that I talk to them but I don’t think that it’s fair that to share the conversations that I talk with them. They haven’t come to the game recently; we haven’t been so good. So they’re probably upset. I bet you can, like, talk to them. Ask them, what’s your goal? What do you want to do? They might want to reveal. They might even want to… sell. They might want to do some other things. Maybe, I don’t know.
“I’ve seen the love of the people and what they wish for me. If it’s not the case, and people have different agendas within our own team, something gotta change. That’s all.”
Asked whether the recent past—the uber-successful regular seasons, the win-now trades for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard—shows that the team can get back to that place, Giannis was noncommittal:
“You cannot say. I’ve always been, always, always, this is the NBA, I love watching it, I always make hypothetical scenarios. What if I play with LeBron [James]? What if I play with [Kevin Durant]? What if play with [Michael] Jordan? What if I play with Kobe [Bryant]? Everybody makes hypothetical (sic) scenarios. What if you could get, blah blah blah. But at the end of the day, you have to commit somewhere, right? You have to commit somewhere. And I think for 13 years I’ve committed here more than anybody, any player, ever committed.
“If that is not possible to happen, and if then you realize maybe that’s not the case and maybe they’re looking elsewhere and that’s not what they’re trying to do, then automatically you have to be in the plans of what they’re trying to do or weigh the other options. It’s normal.”
Giannis also revealed that he returned too quickly from the first calf strain on December 3rd, only to reinjure it on January 23rd in the final seconds of Milwaukee’s near-comeback against the Nuggets. He said the team told him to exit the game in the first quarter:
“I play because I bleed green. I play because I know what I’ve built here. For me, it’s a huge puzzle. It’s a huge Lego piece that I’ve built and I don’t like people taking out pieces from it. I want to keep on building as much as I can.
“What does that show? Does that show a guy that’s not gonna be here? Is that what my actions show? I could tell you whatever I want, but what does my actions show? That I want to be here. I want to be here with people that know what it takes to win.”
