Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s committed to the Milwaukee Bucks — for now.
The two-time MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP responded Wednesday to an ESPN report suggesting he would seek a trade to the Knicks if the Bucks failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
The report positioned New York as the only preferred destination on Antetokounmpo’s radar.
“I’ve said this many times: I want to be in situations where I can win, and now I’m here,” Antetokounmpo said during Bucks training camp. “I believe in this team, I believe in my teammates, I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go… The moment I step into this facility, wear this jersey, the rest does not matter. I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me.
“Now if in six or seven months, I change my mind, I think that’s human, too. You’re allowed to make any decision you want, but I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team. I’m locked into these guys, this group and to this coaching staff and to myself.”
Antetokounmpo, the only player in league history to average 30 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in three consecutive seasons, reportedly met with Bucks GM Jon Horst in Greece in July and expressed his concerns about Milwaukee’s ability to compete for a title.
Bucks head coach Doc Rivers downplayed the report, calling it a media-driven narrative based on a single phone call that didn’t amount to substantive talks.
“Another [report]? It’s unbelievable,” Rivers said. “What are you supposed to do? I’ve been coaching 26–27 years and one thing that I know is 30 teams call 30 teams. ‘Hey, would you like to trade Chris Paul?’ And you say no. That does not constitute a conversation. I read [in the ESPN report] where it said several conversations. Well, that never happened. It was a conversation where a team called, and Jon has been saying no now for 11 years. So I don’t know why this is a new story, but I guess it is.”
“If you read his comments this summer, every comment he’s made is about being in Milwaukee and loving this city, but for some reason — and it’s funny: you create the story, and then you report on the story you created, and that’s what it feels like, and it gets old for us,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, there’s nothing we can do about it, and I can tell you: Jon has never called a team about Giannis, and until that happens, you really don’t have a story.”
The Knicks have long been linked to Antetokounmpo since Leon Rose took over as team president in 2020. But New York’s ability to make a competitive offer took a hit over the past two summers: trading Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns and sending five first-round picks to Brooklyn in the blockbuster Mikal Bridges deal.
The Bucks, according to the ESPN report, were uninterested in what the Knicks could offer. Complicating matters further, Bridges’ recent contract extension makes him ineligible for trade until February.
Still, Antetokounmpo acknowledged the offseason noise.
“You know what it is? It’s like temptation. Like when you’re going through the amusement park or you’re going outside and you’re not wearing your wedding ring like me now, and then people are looking at you like, ‘Oh, he’s kind of handsome!’ It’s temptation,” he said after practice. “That starts when the season ends until the season begins. There’s gonna be a lot of people that are gonna approach me or my agent, and they’re gonna say hey this is a possibility, that’s a possibility. But at the end of the day, ultimately I’m going to make a decision.
“My decision — today — is that I’m here and I’m committed to this team.”
Whether that commitment holds depends largely on how this season unfolds.
The Bucks aren’t considered a favorite in the East despite injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton weakening the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee traded Jrue Holiday and a trove of assets to land Damian Lillard — only to waive and stretch Lillard’s contract this summer, eating $22.5 million annually over the next five years.
The move cleared enough cap space to sign Myles Turner away from Indiana, and Kyle Kuzma returns after the Khris Middleton trade, but the Bucks now face a glaring hole at point guard, with only Cole Anthony and Kevin Porter Jr. available to replace Lillard.
According to ESPN Bet, the Bucks now have worse odds to win the East than the Celtics — with Cleveland, the Knicks and Orlando positioned as stronger contenders.
And if the losses pile up, so will the rumors.
“I think that guys that haven’t been around a very, very good player, it’s kind of hard to get a grasp on [trade rumors], right?” Antetokounmpo said. “But say if you’ve been around [Kevin Durant], or LeBron [James] or Steph [Curry] or Devin Booker, there’s always gonna be conversations, always gonna be rumors, and you’ve just gotta get used to it.
“So before, when I was with Khris, Jrue, Brook [Lopez] and Pat [Connaughton], we were used to, ‘Khris is gonna get traded, I’m gonna ask out, Jrue gonna get traded,’ all these rumors. And we just lock in, focus on ourselves and focus on what we’ve gotta do and what our jobs are.
“Now, I think we’ve got a young team, so with my actions and with my words, I’ve just gotta keep on validating to those guys that we’re here to do something special, we’re here to learn, we just have to play hard and we have to compete. I’m here and nothing else matters.
“In two-to-three days you’ll see I met with FC Barcelona, too, or I met with PSG, right? Yeah don’t believe it because I’m gonna show up in practice and we’re gonna do what we do, we’re gonna work through our plays, work through our defense, lock in and play the game tomorrow.”
The Holiday rumor came true. So did Middleton. And Lopez found a new home, too.
Time will tell whether these are media-manufactured narratives — or just stories the media spotted first.
