What’s different about Giannis Antetokounmpo situation this offseason?
What’s different about the Giannis Antetokounmpo situation this offseason? Jim Owczarski discusses next moves for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Seemingly harmless enough, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo posted a question on social media relating to former ESPN newsbreaker Adrian Wojnarowski, but perhaps there’s more to it than simple admiration.
“Does anyone else miss Woj?” Giannis asked, presumably referring to Wojnarowski, who famously broke news of NBA player movement unlike anyone else before stepping aside last year, leading to the coinage of the term “Woj Bomb.”
Does anyone else miss Woj?!
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) June 11, 2025
It just so happens that the question came shortly after the man who took Wojnarowski’s place, Shams Charania, spoke about Antetokounmpo’s future on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“His status will not be tied to the NBA draft. It won’t be tied to free agency,” Charania said of Antetokounmpo when discussing the NBA offseason. “It’s much more likely that his future plays out into July and into August in terms of him seeing the landscape of not only the Bucks, seeing the landscape of the league, seeing what other teams do. When you’re a star of that caliber, the league moves how you want it to move. The league will move when you’re ready to ask for a trade or when you’re ready to then say, ‘I’m staying.’
“Around the league, there is a level of skepticism because Giannis Antetokounmpo has been loyal. He’s been there 12 years. His brand is all about loyalty right now. There’s a level of skepticism, ‘Does he really go through with it?’ There’s a difference between being open-minded and … exploring other options. There’s a difference between doing that and asking for a trade. He’s in the process of figuring out exactly what he wants to do.”
Antetokounmpo has been seeing the sights in Brazil, joined by brothers Thanasis, Kostas and Alex, including a stop for a ribbon-cutting at a basketball court bearing Giannis’ likeness.
The family posted pictures in front of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, and attended the June 10 clash between Brazil and Paraguay in the 2026 FIFA World Cup South American qualifiers at Neo Quimica Arena in São Paulo, also known as Arena Corinthians — the stadium where the Green Bay Packers opened the 2024 NFL season against the Philadelphia Eagles.