Sitting in the dining room of Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 29, which was remade into a postgame press conference room, Giannis Antetokounmpo talked through the disappointment of a third straight first-round playoff exit over the clunking of ice being made in a soda machine a couple dozen feet in front of him.
The inopportune thuds of frozen water tumbling through his season-ending question-and-answer session were indicative of the way the Milwaukee Bucks had ended the last three seasons, winning four playoff games being sent home by early May. Injuries to Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton have all played a big role, but the result has left the Bucks – and their franchise player – at a crossroads.
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In conversations with league sources familiar with his thinking, the Journal Sentinel learned that Antetokounmpo has been dissatisfied with the level of play of the Bucks the last two seasons, beyond just the postseason exits.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s goal has been to win a second championship with the Bucks, but the team has seen its playoff seeding worsen the last two years.
His goal has been to win a second championship with the Bucks, and he fully understands nothing is promised in that regard – there have been six different champions in each of the last six seasons – but the Bucks have seen their regular-season success (and therefore their playoff seeding) worsen each of the last two years.
Playoff injuries happen. An opponent might have a once-in-a-lifetime game or series. But since winning 58 games as the league’s top team in 2023, the Bucks have gone 97-67 in the regular season – and just 65-53 under head coach Doc Rivers. The chances for true championship contention have diminished as they’ve had to scratch out middling playoff seeds.
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It is up to the Bucks organization to recapture a swagger of sorts, but more importantly rebuild a consistent, winning team that sets them up with home court advantage and a great chance to contend for another trip to a playoff finals appearance. It was already going to be an important summer in that regard for the team’s ownership and front office, which typically meets with Antetokounmpo in late June or July.
The Bucks have remained a playoff team with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the team has been slipping from a position of true NBA title contention.
But unlike the offseasons of 2020 or 2023 when he extended his contracts and the team was coming off dominant, top-seed regular-season campaigns, this summer has a few more clouds in the sky as he examines his professional horizon.
To be clear, league sources have told Journal Sentinel throughout the season and again after the first-round playoff loss that Antetokounmpo loves Milwaukee, has never had any intent on playing elsewhere, and has never claimed otherwise. And while the Bucks have remained a playoff team, they have slipped from a position of true contention – so the possibility of playing outside of Milwaukee to find a better chance at that second title may come into play for the 30-year-old former league MVP.
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That said, it is impossible to guarantee a championship. Antetokounmpo, of course, knows this. But he must see the vision on how the Bucks will once again be one of the best positioned teams in the Eastern Conference to do so.
“I feel like there’s a lot of time that life has made me said or, like, frustrated since I was a kid – I never gave up,” Antetokounmpo said following the Bucks’ season-ending loss in Game 5 to the Indiana Pacers. “I always try to find solutions in my life, which I think it translate(s) to the basketball court. I always try to, even though things might not happen the way I want it to happen, I always have class and I have this optimistic mentality of coming back, keep on working and there’s going to be a day that’s gonna be your turn. It cannot always go your way.
“I’m not; growing up I was never, like, spoiled. I was never like, a brat, thinking that oh, everything will go my way in life and it’s supposed to go this way and I’m supposed to win every single year and I put the work in and it’s supposed to translate on the court. Sometimes it doesn’t. And you have to understand that and keep on believing in myself, keep on believing in in God and knowing that he puts me in a position I’m supposed to be and never make mistakes. And then just keep on coming. Keep on coming every single year and one day it’s going to be my turn.”
Lori Nickel: I got caught up in the ‘Giannis must go’ wave for a second. But now? Make it make sense.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks must convince Giannis Antetokounmpo they will contend for title