Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t too sure if he’ll stay a member of the Bucks his entire NBA career.
The star forward recently sat down with Tania Ganguli of the New York Times to talk about his NBA career thus far. When talking about his future in Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo left his answers pretty open-ended.
“There will never be hard feelings with the Milwaukee Bucks,” Antetokounmpo said. “I believe that we’ve had 10 unbelievable years, and there’s no doubt I gave everything for the city of Milwaukee. Everything. Every single night, even when I’m hurt. I am a Milwaukee Buck. I bleed green. I know this.
“This is my team, and it’s going to forever be my team. I don’t forget people that were there for me and allowed me to be great and to showcase who I am to the world and gave me the platform. But we have to win another one.”
After last year’s disappointing end to the season for the Bucks, when they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eighth-seeded Heat, Antetokounmpo seems eager to join a team that can take him to another championship—whether that be in Milwaukee or elsewhere.
The Bucks will be undergoing a major change this year as Adrian Griffin will take over as the franchise’s coach for his first year following Mike Budenholzer’s firing. Antetokounmpo said the coaching change is one of the factors that may make him not sign another extension with the team.
“You’ve got to see the dynamics,” he said. “How the coach is going to be, how we’re going to be together. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we’re on the same page with that and you show me and we go together to win a championship, I’m all for it.”
The 2021 NBA finals MVP signed a five-year extension with the Bucks ahead of the ’21 season, meaning he won’t be an unrestricted free agent until ‘26. Antetokounmpo didn’t state if he has any future plans, but he definitely didn’t turn down any thoughts of possibly moving from Milwaukee.
“The real question’s not going to be this year — numbers-wise it doesn’t make sense,” Antetokounmpo said regarding an extension. “But next year, next summer it would make more sense for both parties. Even then, I don’t know.
“I would not be the best version of myself if I don’t know that everybody’s on the same page, everybody’s going for a championship, everybody’s going to sacrifice time away from their family like I do. And if I don’t feel that, I’m not signing.”
