Giannis Antetokounmpo Media Availability | 12.18.25

Giannis Antetokounmpo Media Availability | 12.18.25

I guess the first thing is, you know, we haven’t seen you since. You were very upset sitting on the court on December 3rd with a calf injury. So, just what what did you what did that feel like? It kind of looks similar to the Solius a couple years ago in some ways for us, but what did that feel like? What >> I don’t know if I can I don’t know how much I can share, but uh yeah, same thing. It’s not similar. It’s the same thing. Um I had um a solo strain and um it’s part of the game. It’s uh been unfortunate because I I feel like after the growing injury just um I was in the mindset that I was getting that okay, you know, whatever they tell me if it’s going to be 10 days, 15 days, whatever, I’m going to come back sooner because I’m going to do I’m going to take care of my body. I’m going to do the appropriate work. Uh I’m going to do everything that I can just to be out on the the court. Um obviously at the time, you know, as a leader of this team, you when we are competing and you feel like maybe you’re not out there to help your team and you not give your team the best chance, you kind of feel like sometimes it’s your fault and uh instead of taking the time, the appropriate time for you to get back, you kind of rush things, which that’s what I’ve done my my whole career. and uh just to be out there because at the end of the day as you both know and you know uh every game that we play we we fight for our lives right now you know we um I think 10 and a half games 11 games out of the first spot we like I think four or five games out of the six spot so every game counts right so maybe it was u a mistake of me come back a little bit earlier because once I come back Now you’re overcompensating and um the only way you can pop your solo is by overcompensating and having a extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in short period of time. And uh um again I think all of the things that I was thinking and try to come back lead to the incident that I had with my solio. Uh but it’s part of the game. I’m good now. Feel good. I’ve been working. I’ve been running. Um, I just can’t wait. I don’t know whe they gonna clear me, but I can’t wait to get back out there and play basketball. >> When When it happened, did you know right off the bat what it was? >> Mhm. Uh, actually, no. No. I I felt like somebody kicked me, you know, and uh they that’s what you you hear all these horror stories and horror stories and stories from my brother that it happened, you know, you feel like somebody kicks you in your Achilles calf area. So, you know, I turned back and um so there was nobody there and then I couldn’t like really move my my foot for the first couple of uh minutes. So, I didn’t I didn’t really know until I got actually tested and they told me that it was um pretty much it was a solus. So, I I kind of knew the deal. I know it’s a four to six weeks rehab or I don’t know four weeks rehab. So, I knew what I had to do after that. Still locked in, encourage my teammates, take care of my body and um get back healthy. >> Does that timeline feel all right when you think? Yeah, I look if it was game seven today, I’ll play, you know, I had no choice. But, um, again, you just got to be smarter. I just turned 31 uh 3 days after the incident, you know. So, um, it’s not I’m not old, but I don’t know. They just got to be smarter with things like that. Like, I’ve never had in my career two soft tissue injuries in this span. First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever I’ve had one. Probably one, but in such a short span, you know, never in my my career. And it’s not not just me. It’s like you see a lot of people across the league that calf, hamstrings, etc., etc. So, you just got to be able to take care of your body because there’s so much traveling, so much games. The speed of the game is insane right now. So, uh, again, I’m just going to do what I’ve been doing since day one, still like them, but I just got to be a little bit smarter about it, you know, that I cannot I cannot cheat the time timeline anymore like before. So, I just got to be smart. >> Uh, the day that you got hurt, there was another report from ESPN about you and your agent talking to the about your future, whether or not you wanted to be here or not. I’m curious what you think of that report. Um, >> uh, I didn’t hear about the report. Um, again, if my agent is stuck to the Bucks about it. Um, he’s his own person. He can have any conversation he wants about it. That doesn’t at the end of the day, I don’t work for my agent. My agent work for me. Uh, and there’s going to be conversations that going to be made between him and the bugs and him and his other players and him and other teams and other GMs, executives around the league. Um it’s something that we we can’t control. Um but at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks. Um I’m still locked in locked in on my teammates. Most importantly, locked in on me getting back healthy, you know, and then like, you know, locked in on my teammates and how can I help them from the sideline or encourage them to, you know, um be able to play and play free because it takes a toll on them too, right? like they’re playing game after game after game. Thank god we’ve had a very good schedule the last couple of uh uh weeks but it takes a toll on them too like rumors and that and in out injuries and lose win like it’s it’s hard right so you know as a leader but most importantly as a winner um just got to be there for them first so right now I’m just again focus on getting back healthy on the court, focusing on how can I encourage my teammates to be the best version of of themselves. After that, focus on how can I go out there and help them win games and get out of this uh hole that we’ve dig ourselves um in. And then everything then everything else come after that. >> On October 8th when you came down, you had said, “I hope this ends it.” when we were asking you about the reports from New York in the offseason, you talked about, hey, that was the summer. >> It didn’t end it though. Like, so this is kind of carried into this season. Um, >> which I I appreciate, right? This is the most I’ve been ever talked about in my career. I’m like in my house with my kids and all that and I’m holding the TV and like, oh, Janice is going to the Memphis Grizzlies, you know, Jiannis is going to the Detroit Pistons, you know, which, hey, I’m not going to lie, the I’m the hottest chick in the game right now, man. I’m joking. But uh >> but is it but obviously your teammates have had to answer questions about it. Your coach has had to answer questions about it. So like that’s different than the past. Like are you bothered by that or or >> No. >> Okay. >> Oh, it doesn’t affect my It doesn’t affect my work. Doesn’t affect my work. It doesn’t affect my relationship with my teammates. It doesn’t affect my relationship most importantly with my coach. Um doesn’t affect my relationship with um uh the GM. So, it doesn’t really bother me because they know what I’m about. You know, everybody that talk about me, they really don’t know me. And uh if they know me, they probably call me, text me, and talk to me about it uh before they say something that they believe. But um people that know me, you know, we have conversation. I’ve had a conversation with my coach. I’ve had a conversation with my GM. Um have conversation with my guys in the locker room. So I’m just I’m just stay lacking and I’m just telling them the same thing. Like right now we cannot be worrying about what the rumors are. Like talk about rumors and headlines and which hey I I appreciate I know you guys are in media. I appreciate all this. It’s part of it’s part of the the game but at the end of the day we fighting for our lives like we got to win the game you know. So rumors won’t help us win the game or you know uh or anything else. We just got to focus on basketball. How can we be better? How can we learn how to win the game? Like what it takes to win the game because I don’t think anybody in this locker room or in this organization don’t want to win games. We got to figure out how to win games. Learn how to win games. We we’re winners, man. We just got to got to give more to the game. Like dig deep right now, you know, because uh I don’t know in the last what 12 games we won three two. I really don’t. So, um, this is not who we are and our our character right now is being tested. We just got to find our identity and what our identity is going to be. Are we going to be quitters and we’re just going to quit and go the other way and start playing uh me basketball and not move the ball or are we going to be uh together? Uh we are we going to go and have uh more team events, have dinners together um in the locker room, spend more time together, you know, at the game like when somebody falls on the floor, go pick him up. When somebody miss a shot, encourage him. When you have the ball and you have a a good shot, move the ball to the next guy for a great shot. Like all those little things add up. Right now, our character is being tested right now. You know, who are we? Who do we want to be? You know, this how you build your identity. Who do you want to be? you know, and right now we uh me personally, I don’t want to be the guy that I’m worrying about uh rumors. Like my which maybe not, but my legacy is on on the line, right? This how I feel every single day when I walk in here, like every single day I go out there and I’m not able to help my team win. I feel like I’m being tested. And so when I’m being tested, everybody goes back to what they know best. And what I know best is to work hard. It doesn’t matter if I’m 38 years old, 31 years old, 22 years old, I go back to what I know best. And you know, for me it’s work hard. For other people is might I don’t know what you like to do. You might go and smoke a cigar. You know, Eric over here might want to go and smoke a smoke drink. You know what I’m saying? Like I don’t know what he But I know I go back to what I know the best. Compete, you know, and play like my life is on the line. And that’s what we got to do. That’s who we are. legacy >> my legacy to be hey um thanks I I right I do I don’t know but I’ll say that I want um people to say people to say I want me I want to say that when I done with this game I gave everything for the game through ups and down wins loses injuries health I gave everything for the game. I did not cheat a day and I don’t I don’t think anybody in this organization will ever say that I cheat the game or I cheat the day. I always give everything. I always give everything I have at that moment. >> You mentioned addressing your teammates. There’s reports of meetings, not meetings, all of these things. I’m curious, how did you actually address it with your teammates? like how how would you go about assuring to them that hey I no matter what you’re here like I’m here with you >> know it’s just first of all I’m never going to have a meeting with my teammates and sit everybody down and talk about like um hey guys like hey if we don’t win I’m I’mma get out of here like come on we grow man that’s not going to happen they’re growing too like I think they understand the deal but you just got to give urgency um to the team like guys this is like serious like who we are trying to be like we got to we got to turn this around we have time to turn this around and you got to have a little bit more urgency I think I’ve had the conversation with the coach about it I think I’ve had the conversation with individual players about it um I’ve been approached by um teammates and you know ask me about the rumors because also it might affect their own life and their career and uh I always you know I’m straight with them whatever that answer might be. Um, like the other day I was uh approach about, hey man, you you deleted all the the bug stuff from the from your show. You deleted. I’m like, bro, you know, the young generation, they just pay attention so much that what what is that mean? Like what is me deleting the bug stuff from the social media my social media platform? What is that mean that I’m not going to show up to work? I’m not like what is I don’t understand. You know, I think like people give so much attention to that, you know, and I told him I told him my intention was not to first of all, I did not delete the buck stuff like you my Jimmy Pasky shirt, championship trophies there, the NBA Cup trophies there. All the moments that mean something to me is there, but I had to I want to be more private moving forward as much as I can. I want to be a little bit more private because that’s how I protect my family. You mentioned, you know, your agents are adults and can talk to whoever they work for you. >> Yes, sir. >> So, >> is this a situation where you don’t want private conversations or regular conversations to get out because somewhere in the communication line what they’re doing or what you’re directing them to do is getting out and caught like I mean if if you can kind of control some of that stuff if they do work or not. I can’t I listen at the end of the day like I tell my wife all the time I said like stop going and shopping on to Target like every day she wakes up she’s like I’m going to Target I’m like babe like stop like you’re addicted to Target and she every day today she went to Target like I can’t control she’s a grown woman she like I can’t control what she does right so the same thing with my age I can’t control the conversations they’re going to have I can’t control people that approach them and At the same time like I’ve I can’t control teams that approach the Bucks like the Bucks might I’ve seen you guys have told me like the Buck have said like we’re not trading Yiannis still probably team still reach out to them like so you can’t really control other people’s action right for me when the season start this is my routine I focus on my body and I focus on my game and my family you can ask my agent uh and people that know me being around me when the season start there’s nothing more important than basketball nothing zero nothing nothing nothing zero it’s okay take my kids away my my wife and my mom but nothing else so I don’t have conversation I’m not that kind of I’m not in that level um which maybe when I was prior when I was younger I could had conversation every single day with aging like a lot of people great relationship with their agents. With me, I do have good relationship with my agent, but they know that once the season start, you don’t call my phone. You don’t talk to me about endorsement deals. You don’t talk to me about basketball. You you never played the game. Let me take care of my job. You take it off of your job. And the conversation that is are is made by, you know, people that represent me, it’s it’s up to them. It’s not it’s not up to me. I can’t control that. uh talk a little bit about the result maybe not being what you wanted thus far this season. Um I’m curious what is maybe frustrating you about this team that you know you guys aren’t where you want to be or what are you seeing that you guys aren’t where you want to be? >> Look at the end of the day there’s nothing that’s frustrating me about this team like I feel like this team has high character guys. There’s nobody in this locker room that does not want to win, you know. And the question is that we have to figure out ways to win. We got to figure out what it takes to win. How much you got to be selfless, how much you got to sacrifice to win. And that’s I think where the issue is. You you know what I’m saying? Um the only part that I might be frustrated about the team is that that we’re losing. That’s like I don’t think anybody likes to lose. Like I don’t like to lose. I don’t care if I play I don’t play. I don’t like to lose. It’s simple as that. I don’t like to look at the standing and see that we 12th and or 11th in the East. Like that’s not who that’s not who we are. That’s not what the Milwaukee Bucks organization is about. And that’s not what we’ve been about the last 10 years, you know? Like I don’t like losing eight in a row, 17 in a row. Nobody likes to do that. Nobody likes to go home and you know um think about the game and think what he could do better and come the next day watch hour and a half film and then work out two hours and run sprints and all that. Nobody wants to do that. We want to like we want to go I’ve said this in the past. I want to win the game and I want to go back home and have a nice piece of steak. I want to watch some Netflix, watch some reality TV show and then come back, get my shot, get get my body ready and get ready for the next game. That’s what winning is about. You just keep on doing again over and over over again. You know, I’ve had probably one of my best season uh in my career was 2018 19. We won 60 games. We never lost two in a row. Never lost two in a row. It was a fun season. It didn’t end up to a championship, but it was a fun season because winning makes it fun, you know. Um winning take takes care of so many other things and covers so many other things, you know. Uh but losing just keeps on highlighting and showcasing all of our flaws and you don’t doing this good. You don’t do this good enough. You’re not sprinting enough. If you could do if you could shoot better, we probably had win the game. If you were healthy, we’ll be better. I don’t like being part of uh losing and that’s the only thing that I might be frustrated about. But my teammates never >> as a leader, where do you feel like you can impact your team the most until you get back on the court? >> Just talk and have a conversation. having conversations uh with Miles, with Bobby, Cuz encouraging them, you know, showing up, being there, feeling my presence when I’m at practice or, you know, at the game in the locker room. Um um that’s pretty much it. You can’t you can’t do much. Like I think me and TP I don’t know if AJ is playing, but I know TP is not playing. Uh me and TB probably in the same boat like there’s so much we can do there. We can’t control we can’t control the game but we can just be there and they know that our voice uh help them with our voice as much as we can. >> Aside from the level you kind of expect. >> Um young team um I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I feel like I feel like we have to understand sometimes that because we’ve played a lot of closed games, right? And we have to understand that um every every game is going to be a close game and we cannot have wasted possession. We cannot turn the ball over. It’s going to cost us. Like I when I was before I had the injury like we had played like 20 games and all of them were like up two, up four, down four, down one, like overtime. And that’s when you realize like it’s going to be a dog fight every single game and we cannot have wasted possession. We can’t turn the ball over and sometimes we got to be and not only that selection got to be better also like we cannot come down 17 seconds on the clock 18 seconds on the clock shoot shoot the uh tough two or contested two. You know there’s going to be some guys on the team that will do that. You know um and I’m not going to name but not everybody has the green light to do that right. So, we have to understand that we got to take care of the ball from the start, from the first possession until the end. You know, get better s selection and know that it’s going to be a dog fight every single night. Uh I felt like we didn’t came into the season with that mindset because we at in the beginning of the season, we were like kind of rolling. We’re playing good, but we we had we have time to turn around. Hopefully, we can turn around. If we don’t, we probably been uh going back home in April. This is >> um if you count media day and then when New York media was here covering the Knicks game, this is like the fourth time now you’ve addressed rumors about yourself or your contentment or happiness here. It’s different because it’s in season. Would you like this to be it or do you are you resigned to the fact that maybe because either you’re not playing or the team isn’t playing well? this is just now part of your life, part of the Bucks life for this till February till the summer like or do you hope this ends at some point where you’re not asked being asked these questions and >> um do I hope it ends for sure. Do I think it’s going to end? No. I think um when people see cracks, they see opportunity to um get in fit in through those cracks. And now I understand it. You know, it’s it’s part of the game. It’s part of winning. You know, you got to you got to you got to make the right moves and to create, you know, the best chance for your organization to to compete and win a championship. So, I I get it. You know, if I was from the other side, I probably and I was a executive probably do the same thing. like um eventually you’re going to break like we going to keep on calling you and if the team is not doing well and not performing the standards that you guys think it should we’re going to keep on calling you until you like say okay let’s get it done that’s how it works you know in business that’s what I do in business right so I just got to be consistent applying pressure consistently and eventually someone is going to break and going to you know kind of give in to what you want, right? So, do I hope he stops? One, 100%. Because it’s it takes a toll on my on me, too, mentally and on my family. My wife sees it, my mom sees it, it’s like, “Oh, we’re going to uh I don’t know New Orleans.” No. Uh does not happen. But, uh and he takes a toll on my teammates, which I don’t like. I really don’t like. But I I understand what part of media is to sell the story, right? And keep keep on creating a narrative and so people can stay tun tuned in and you know keep on enjoying the NBA season and think about the possibility that you know Luca might come to the Bucks. Can you imagine that? You know like Luka might come to the Bucks like probably the arena going to be sold out if they only feel believe in the possibility that that might happen right. So, um I get I get why it’s happening, but uh I would definitely hope that he can just stop and just play basketball. I just want to play basketball.

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