Giannis Antetokounmpo reiterates his championship desire with the Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has reaffirmed his ambition to conquer a second championship. The player, who is currently out of the start of training camp due to a positive COVID-19 test, has confirmed that he was open to exploring different options during the summer.The Bucks have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, which means that 30-year-old Antetokounmpo has not played beyond the first round since 2022. The player has expressed the same concern in recent years, focusing on his desire to compete and win another championship. Despite this, Antetokounmpo was optimistic about the state of the Bucks’ roster, highlighting the addition of Myles Turner and the opportunity to play with younger and more athletic teammates.“I want to be on a team that gives me the opportunity to win a championship,” Antetokounmpo stated. “It would be a disservice to basketball not to want to compete at the highest level, not to want your season to end in April.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Recently, Antetokounmpo led the Greek team to win the bronze medal in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 tournament, an achievement he called “the greatest basketball achievement” of his life. In the third-place game, he scored 30 points on 9 of 11 shooting, as well as 17 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. While the rest of the Bucks gathered in Milwaukee for the start of training camp, Antetokounmpo remained in Greece. “We don’t think it’s safe for him to be around our team,” explained general manager Jon Horst. “As soon as it is, he’ll be back with us.” Although Antetokounmpo acknowledged exploring his options this summer, the Bucks showed confidence in the player’s commitment to the franchise. “This team is built to maximize Giannis, but Giannis can actually maximize this team,” Horst said. “This is a team that is really hungry to win and wants to deserve it. That will be our style of play, playing together, and it will feature the best player in the world, Giannis, and a group of players who fit in very well with him.” Wes Edens, Bucks governor, joined Horst in his confidence in Antetokounmpo, emphasizing a conversation they had in June after the season. “He made it clear that he was very committed to Milwaukee,” Edens said. “He likes being here, he likes his family being here. He believes that the team… obviously we’ve had bad luck in these last few years in the playoffs… but there are many positive things.” However, Antetokounmpo later stated that he did not remember having that conversation. “I believe in my teammates,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s it. I believe in the people around me. I believe in my teammates. I believe in the moves they make. Hopefully, we can get on the same page and understand what’s at stake right now. In the last three years, we’ve been eliminated in the first round, so there’s not much to talk about. We just have to put our heads down and stay focused throughout the year and try to win some games and hopefully make the playoffs and then not get eliminated in the first round. That’s it. And then we go from there.”“I think it’s a great team. We are a team to be reckoned with, and many people might not take us seriously, but I think we are a very, very dangerous team,” he added.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
