Ryan Rollins (L) spoke on how the Milwaukee Bucks’ season has gone, including the trade rumors surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo -Credit:Getty Images
(Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – At the beginning of every NBA season, each team gets a chance to showcase if they are a contender, rebuilding, or something in between.
For teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, who are hoping to maximize their championship window with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2025-26 NBA season has been a rollercoaster, to say the least. From inconsistent play to trade rumors surrounding Antetokounmpo, the Bucks have experienced a turbulent season that is inching toward its conclusion.
While fans might have a general understanding of the situation, only the players in the locker room truly know what it is like to experience an up-and-down season from the inside. For Bucks star Ryan Rollins, it is just about letting words be words as he and Milwaukee move forward.
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Speaking exclusively to Mirror U.S. Sports after the Bucks’ 129-96 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on March 23, which saw a star get waived just hours before the matchup, Rollins gave an insight into what was going through his mind as the team attempted to navigate a tough season.
“It is what it is. It’s going to be a lot of — it was a lot of that this year, still is,” Rollins began, referring to the constant noise surrounding the Bucks this season. “I mean, it’s just part of the business, part of the game. So we just don’t pay too much attention to it.”
The Bucks’ star guard added that the outside noise isn’t necessarily “frustrating” more so than it is unnecessary “chatter” meant to potentially rile and distract the team. Instead of allowing it to gain life from how the team and players react, Rollins approached it from a different perspective: letting it pass.
“You can get negative about it, you can feed into it, but if you just don’t feed into it and let it be what it be, it’s going to be what it be,” he continued. “If it’s not [real], it’s just bull—- and it’s going to be what it is. So it’s just gonna be that.”
Rollins, Antetokounmpo, and the Bucks have had to endure a rough season -Credit:Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
Part of what’s made the 2025-26 season more difficult for the Bucks is the fact that Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ biggest star since arguably Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1970s, was the subject of trade rumors from the offseason until the trade deadline in February.
When it was reported that the Greek star was looking for a change of scenery, teams around the league lined up with their best offers for the chance to land the former NBA Finals MVP. In the end, both Antetokounmpo and the Bucks opted to remain together as the franchise continues to find pieces to place around the aging star.
Speaking specifically about the situation between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Rollins explained that he and his teammates had no choice but to take every moment as it came.
“When you hear that and what it’s going to be, what it’s going to be — everybody was talking about what it’s going to be, whatever it was, and he said what he said,” the 23-year-old added.
Antetokounmpo won a championship with the Bucks in 2021 -Credit:Getty
“But us, as a group, as a team, we just day by day take it. He said he wants to be here. He is here. So we’re taking that for what it is. So all that s— is just talk.”
For now, it’s unclear what the Bucks’ plan is for the rest of the season. After its loss to Los Angeles, Milwaukee dropped to 29-42, officially ending any chance of a comeback and finishing with a .500 record, despite Rollins averaging 17.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
As of writing, the team is currently 11th in the Eastern Conference, nine games behind the Orlando Magic. Though stranger things have happened, it is highly improbable that the Bucks will leapfrog the Magic for a play-in spot, as Milwaukee would need to play almost immaculate basketball to reach that point.
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With the season rapidly coming to a close and the Bucks’ chances of making the play-in tournament slipping away, Rollins is doing what he can to focus on the moment and just craft his game because that is all he can control at this point in time.
“I think the best way to kind of look at it is out of perspective, so you just can do what you do in between games, like play the right way, doing the right thing,” Rollins reflected when asked about what he can do to avoid being down on himself as the year’s conclusion draws closer.
“Just moments of good ball where you can kind of look at it and grow from it a little bit.
“On a personal level – it’s not to be like selfish about it – but work on your good habits and your game and the things that you do well, things that you need to do better on. So there’s little things within a game that you can try to absorb and bring a bigger picture of the situation.”