Giannis Antetokounmpo Media Availability | 10.08.25

Giannis Antetokounmpo Media Availability | 10.08.25

Yesterday, ESPN came out with a report about you and the Bucks talking about possibly trading you somewhere and you coming out with a team and the Knicks that you would agree to go to. I’m curious just how you kind of feel about that story and and how you guys uh first of all, I haven’t read that story. When the season started, I tried to get off social media, try to focus on my craft and the team. But yeah, I’ve I’ve said this many times like I want to be in situations that I can win and now I’m here. I believe in this team. I believe in my teammates, you know. I’m here to lead this team uh to wherever we can we can go and it’s going to be it’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. So all the other extra stuff does not matter. I think I’ve communicated with my teammates, communicate with the people that I I respect and love that the moment that I step in on this court or in this facility, I wear this jersey, the rest does not matter. I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me. Now, if in six, seven months I change my mind, it’s I think that’s human, too. You can you’re allowed to make any decision you want. But I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team. I’m lacking to these guys, to this group, and to my coaching staff, and to to myself. I mean, you to that point, you’ve been pretty clear for many years what your summers are like, and how you view things and look where you can win, whether it’s here or elsewhere. Yeah, it’s it’s you know what it is. is like uh temptation, you know, temptation, you know, like when you um you’re going through the amusement park or you go through the outside and you’re not wearing your wedding ring like me now and the people are looking at you looking at you like, “Oh, he’s, you know, he’s kind of handsome. Oh, tempatient.” And that starts when the season ends until the season begins. you know, there’s going to be a lot of people that going to approach me or approach, I don’t know, my my agents, and they’re going to say, “Hey, this is a possibility. That’s a possibility. This a possibility. This a possibility.” But at the end of the day, ultimately, I I’m going to make a decision. My decision today is that I’m here and I’m committed to this team. Uh D kind of said like, “I don’t feel like I need to say anything about it because Giannis’s actions do all the the speaking.” Is that kind of about how you feel about this? like do you talk to the teammates when things like this come out and you’re like guys like don’t worry about it I’m here or how do you look I think like guys that haven’t been around uh uh I don’t know um a very very good player um it’s it’s kind of hard to get a grasp on it right so like say if you’ve been around like KD or LeBron or Steph or I don’t know Deon Booker and all these big time players Um, there’s always going to be conversations. There’s always going to be rumors, you know, and you just kind of get used to that, right? So, before when I was with Chris, Drew, Brooke, and the group, and Pat, and all those guys, like we kind of were used to Chris going to get traded, I’m going to ask out, Drew going to get traded. All these rumors and we just like, hey, just lock in, focus on ourselves, and focus what we got to do and what our job is, you know? Now I think like we’re a young team. So with my actions and with my words, I just got to keep on validating to those guys that we’re here to do something special. We’re here to learn, here to play hard and we’re here to compete and I’m here and there’s nothing else that matter. Obviously, you’re going to see probably in two three days that I probably met with uh FC Barcelona, too, you know, or uh I met with um I don’t know, PSG, right? Yeah. Don’t believe because I’m going to show up in practice and we’re going to do what we got to do. We’re going to work through our players. We’re going to walk through our defense and we’re going to get lock in and play the game tomorrow. I guess for you, Dan said today you got to do a little bit more one-on-one, do a little bit more contact, and he walked us through. He’s like, you know, then we’ll do three on three and five on five. Uh but he said, you know, for 3 years with Giannis, it’s like you got to really like let him know like, hey, we got to take it slow. We got a lot of season. Uh have you gotten better at that through the years? Oh, yeah, for sure. I’ve got a lot better at that actually. A lot better. Um yeah, at the end of the day, like nobody remembers our first preseason game last year or my my rookie year or my sophomore year or a year after that. Nobody remembers that. They all remember what you do within the season and what you did in the playoffs, right? So just got to understand like um availability is your best ability. And I just want to be, you know, healthy, consistent, and available for my teammates, for my team. And uh I’ve learned I’ve learned that sometimes instead of playing 30 minutes of oneonone, I play 10 because it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I feel good, you know? Uh I I feel like I’m in shape. I get my reps and then I go go and sit down, you know, and that comes with age, right? Like when I was younger, I just wanted to play. I remember I was playing oneonone before uh the day before the game, you know? It’s just like and I feel like sometimes it’s also insecurity speaking. You know, when you’re kind of insecure, you try to do everything last minute. You’re trying to like, oh, prep a little bit more last minute. At the end of the day, what you’ve done through this off season, through, you know, um, for three, four, five months, what you’ve done, you know, you should be ready to play what, you know, whatever game come or you should be ready for any challenge that comes your way. So, I think I’m as I’ve said to all of you guys that I know who I am. I feel like the people know what who I am and what I’m capable of. I think my teammates know what I’m capable of. I just got to be in shape, feel good, and um now if I’m going to rush in or don’t rush in, it doesn’t really matter because when it matters, I’m going to I’m going to be there. Um, speaking of getting older and dealing with things, but also in reference to to your point earlier about teammates maybe being new to to you or being new to this sort of situation of like reports of of what you may or may not do. Um, is it a little distracting to a degree that you are asking being asked questions about it in the second week of training camp? Cuz that’s a little different. I mean, is that No, I for No, I’m think after this uh interview here, I’m not going to see you probably you guys going to see it. It’s going to have you guys name out there, you know, uh report from Jim and Eric Jan is committed to Milwaukee and committed to this team and he’s going to end it. Uh me personally, I don’t see it. I don’t feel it. I feel because as I said, I try to stay away from social media when the season start. I I feel the the energy within my teammates right with conversations with practices after in the locker room you know at at buses when we traveling on the plane that’s what I feel so the the rest is extra it’s just extra noise right I hope I wish everybody can be like that but I know that everybody’s not like that that a lot of my teammates go through their phone and go Oh, this guy just got traded. This just happened. Like they go and they seek for news and you know um and to see what’s going on around the world. Me I I don’t do that. You know whatever I see is what I know. So and I think it it helps me being that way because they probably this I heard this you know before I came here they told me just know thish They’re going to ask about this guys. The same thing. I’ve I’ve always I’ve always wanted to be Milwaukee. Always wanted to represent the city. You know, as long as we have opportunity to win and I feel like we have opportunity to win with this guy right here, man. You know, this guy going to make so many shots this year. I know. Hey, I’m speaking to exist. Yeah. So, I’m here. Milwaukee Bucks. I’m here, baby. One of your teammates, Ryan. People watch him. I can see how he gets after opposing ball handlers. As a teammate, what do you like? I love I I love I love Ryan Rollings, right? Yeah. You’ve improved a lot this year. That’s the first thing I noticed. His confidence is alltime high right now. Playing with a great pace, able to get downhill, makes incredible reads either for himself all the way, either he creates for open threes, you know, and defensively is always solid. Always going to get into the ball, always going to use his hand very, very well. He’s a great rebounder, you know. He’s definitely taken a step from last year. So, I’m excited. I don’t know if he’s if he’s going to be in the starting lineup or he’s going to come off the bench, but he’s definitely going to be a big uh piece of our team this year. You had great success at Euro Basket. Yes. And help Greece uh medal for the first time in a very long time. Yes. And is there anything you learned about yourself on the court as a leader that you you might bring into this season? Uh no. I think the only thing that uh I’ve learned is that just availability, just being available, you know, like uh when you’re available, you can help your team do great things. And uh that was my goal this this whole summer to be available for the games and you know uh even it goes you win or lose, you always have opportunity to respond and that’s all you can ask for. Uh we had incredible summer. I think in the rankings they had us as uh I think eighth or ninth and at times they had us outside the top 10 and we’re able to you know be third in uh Europe which we haven’t done in 16 years. So I am very very happy and I’m very excited not just for me uh for the whole country of Greece. Uh and I think it’s just going to give us like it’s going to boost us our confidence because couple years ago 2022 Germany um uh they were third in Euro and then 2024 I think they came no 2023 they won the World Cup 2024 came fourth and 2025 they came first and before that they hadn’t won a metal since like the years of Durk probably you know so definitely it’s going to boost everybody’s confidence up. So, I’m excited for the next tournament in 27, 28, and 29. Uh, and I don’t think people understand like what it is, how you feel when you represent your country. I don’t think people if everybody had the opportunity to represent the country in in something, they would understand the the how you say the euphoria I’m feeling right now, which hasn’t end. I still I’m still in it, you know. And um just like when you go out when you walk in the street and you see how much people are so happy for uh the accomplishment we had this uh this summer then you appreciate it even more. You know when we were playing the game there was millions of people that stopped everything they were doing. They didn’t go to work to watch our game which that’s incredible you know. So hopefully we can do it again for them. uh Nick Gallas had to make a very difficult choice between playing for his national team or playing in the NBA because in that era he actually couldn’t do both at the same time. Would that have been a difficult choice for you? Yeah. Um if I had to choose one between the NBA and playing for the national team, yeah, it’s a difficult choice. I’m not going to lie. Um because at the end of the day I got to I got to take care of my family you know uh playing for the you know representing the national team is the best honor that you can ask for and is the best feeling but at the end of the day like we don’t get paid like people don’t understand this. They think we get paid we get millions of dollars or thousands of dollars of representing the national team. you know, we literally spend two, three months out of our summer away from our family to go and do this. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t I’ve played in nine tournaments and eight of those tournaments did not end up in success. You know, you end up crying and in somehow people make you feel like you you’re um you’re humiliated kind of embarrassment because you didn’t wasn’t able to medal. So look, if there was uh there in a there was a word that I could also make a living playing for the national team, I probably say the national team. But to be realistic with uh with with what with everything that I have right now down in front of me. There’s not a league in the world that uh compensates you the way NBA teams do. And it’d be it’d be I don’t know how to say uh foolish of me to say that yeah, let them play for the national team. No, I I got to take care of my family. I got to take care of my family. But if uh the composition was the same, I’ll play for the national team um all day long.

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