addition to Erik Spoelstra\u2019s Heat coaching staff<\/a>.<\/p>\nThursday, less than a week ahead of the start of the Heat\u2019s first training camp with Antetokounmpo, Baker made clear that a new Giannis era is about to begin with very familiar Giannis goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think obviously like any athlete who gets traded at that level, it\u2019s not about his performance and him leading the league and scoring,\u201d Baker said during a video interview from Kaseya Center. \u201cIt\u2019s not that. He understands his legacy is wrapped up in winning championships. So, there\u2019s a level of excitement. There\u2019s a chip on his shoulder. Being here in this organization, an organization that\u2019s won it before and been to the finals in recent years, he\u2019s excited.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou take any athlete who\u2019s been in a situation before with a chance to win a championship with a new team, and it\u2019s just a bunch of excitement, and he\u2019s no different than anyone else who\u2019s had this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Baker\u2019s tenure spanned the tenure of four coaches in Milwaukee, the timing of Antetokounmpo\u2019s move made the timing right for this move of his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, having the relationship with Giannis played a massive part in coming here and being a part of this organization,\u201d said Baker, whose NBA career spanned 13 seasons. \u201cSo it was basically the relationship that I\u2019ve had with him over the last eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the Antetokounmpo deal was done, Baker said he spoke to Spoelstra and Heat President Pat Riley and decided the time was right for the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an ideal time for obviously me and obviously the big fella and this organization,\u201d Baker said. \u201cWe get an opportunity to do something really special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baker said when he returned to the NBA as a Bucks assistant in 2018 after leaving the NBA as a player in 2006, he never envisioned this enduring relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of assisted a little bit on the side and really looked on, before I became one of his active player development coaches, and Giannis has a couple of them, it\u2019s not just me,\u201d Baker related. \u201cBut I took on a mentoring role before anything else, and we just became really close personally. Like I\u2019m the one player development coach that he has that\u2019s officiated his wedding.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he\u2019s like a son to me, and I think he would share the same sentiments. We just have a special bond that goes beyond basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that regard, Baker stands as a bridge between Antetokounmpo\u2019s past and his future.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, our relationship kind of goes beyond basketball,\u201d he said, \u201cand just very fortunate to be here, part of this journey with him and hopefully win another championship at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having found a way to endure amid the Bucks coaching changes from Mike Budenholzer to Adrian Griffin to Joe Prunty to Doc Rivers, Baker said he appreciates not stepping on toes as he moves into an established Spoelstra staff. The irony is that Baker actually played against Spoelstra in 1992, when Spoelstra was at the University of Portland and Baker was playing at the University of Hartford.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been under four coaches since I\u2019ve come on the coaches\u2019 side, and Jason and Coach Bud with Adrian and Coach Doc the last couple of years,\u201d Baker said. \u201cSo I understand the decorum and I understand what it is to be an assistant coach. I want to chime in and want to let the other coaches do what they do best, as well. So I have a great understanding of that. I\u2019ll offer what I can offer. The players don\u2019t want me to sit on the side and not say anything, and neither does Coach Spo and the rest of the staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a great, great month for me being here learning the staff, learning the organization. So I\u2019m confident in what I can bring, obviously. But I\u2019m also confident in working with the other players and with the staff. The thing that makes this a bit easier for, I think, all of us involved is I think the level of expectations and kind of who I\u2019ve come here with.\u201d<\/p>\n
As in arriving with Antetokounmpo, a player Baker said who still carries a fire that burns championship bright.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the hardest working pro I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201d Baker said. \u201cHe has a level of expectation for himself and certainly for the organization. When we were in Milwaukee, he wanted to come back and win a championship every year. And talking to him over the summer, this is no different. He feels there\u2019s a tremendous opportunity here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was traded from Milwaukee to Seattle (in 1997) and the chip that I had on my shoulder going from Milwaukee to Seattle, I expect with all his great talents and all his great preparation, adding that chip on his shoulder, it\u2019ll be a special year for him and certainly a special year for the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 From the moment the agreement was reached on June 22 to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3775],"tags":[7,103,165,189,102,121,3871,6,66],"class_list":["post-842876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-milwaukee-bucks","tag-basketball","tag-bucks","tag-latest-headlines","tag-miami-heat","tag-milwaukee","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-milwaukeebucks","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117326925228126873","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}