According to ESPN, Giannis Antetokounmpo is “ready for a new home.”
According to Giannis Antetokounmpo, he doesn’t want to go anywhere.
“What I want in my heart is I want to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of my career and I want to win here,” Antetokounmpo said. told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday.
Trade rumors surrounding the Greek Freak have intensified ahead of Thursday’s deadline, with the Knicks among the interested suitors.
Since the Bucks won an NBA championship in 2021, they were eliminated in the second round in 2022 and then bounced in the first round of each of the last three postseasons.
Milwaukee went 19-29 on Wednesday, 3.5 games behind the Bulls, for the last spot in the NBA play-in tournament.
At 31 years old, few outside of Milwaukee would blame Antetokounmpo for wanting to try and chase another ring.
But Antetokounmpo, who says he has “zero” input into the Bucks’ trade talks about him, doesn’t sound like someone who wants to leave.
“I came here when I was 18. When is a person’s earliest memories? Around age 4 or 5, right? So from 5 to 18 is 13 years. From the time I could remember. I came here from 18 to 31, which is 13 years. I spent more time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, than I did in my country,” he told the Journal Sentinel.
“I created more memories in this city than in my country. The only memory I knew of my country is selling stuff on the street, going to practice, living in fear, protecting my brothers as much as possible and being a good kid, being a nice 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’s like 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 had my children here. My father is buried here. So tell me, if I open my children’s passport and it says born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my father is buried here, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“So people have the audacity to come up to me and say, ‘This guy really doesn’t like Milwaukee.’ I don’t like Milwaukee? Not the people who know. The people of the city know how much I love them. This city has let me be me, let me be a father, let me be me [be] a husband, let me be my own true self.
“I walk on the street. People don’t bother me. But there will be all these other people, because there are 8 billion people in this world who have their own opinions. Opinions are cheap, that’s why everyone has one.”
“They let me be myself in this city. And I ask for one thing. One. Thing. Only. To create, to bring joy back. To. This city. Because this city deserves it. We’ve been at the top and I know we can have bad years, but we have to keep having the mentality. Period. Okay. And if not, then…
“I’ve seen people’s love and what they want for me. If that’s not the case, and people have different agendas within our own team, something has to change. That’s all.”
However, if the Bucks are unable to contend for a championship, Antetokounmpo is open to playing elsewhere.
“If you ask me what I really want, deep in my heart? I want to be a Milwaukee Buck until I retire and win a championship here. End of sentence,” he said.
“If that’s not possible, and if you realize that maybe that’s not the case and maybe they’re looking elsewhere and that’s not what they’re trying to do, then you automatically have to be involved in the plans of what they’re trying to do or weigh the other options. It’s normal.”
The two-time MVP missed the last four games due to a calf injury. He is averaging 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 30 games this season.
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