MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo has COVID.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ bold and chaotic offseason took one last twist Monday before practice officially got underway ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Instead of sitting at the podium at Fiserv Forum for media day, the two-time MVP dialed in from Greece, where he is quarantining until he’s cleared to travel.
Once the connection between Athens and Milwaukee stabilized, a poorly lit image of Antetokounmpo appeared on the big screen in the interview room. The situation may not have been ideal, but Antetokounmpo was ready and willing to make the best of it.
Antetokounmpo will attempt to do the same on the court this season with a Bucks team he believes is “very, very dangerous,” despite the fact that it features less star power and individual talent than any roster since his early days in the league. Aside from Antetokounmpo, no one on the team has an All-Star appearance.
Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, stalwarts of the 2021 title team, are all gone, as is Damian Lillard, whose short-lived tenure in Milwaukee never lived up to expectations. In the summer, the Bucks waived Lillard, who will not play this season due to a torn Achilles tendon, and stretched the remaining $113 million on his contract over the next five years.
Using the stretch provision on Lillard’s contract means the Bucks will have $22 million in dead money on their books for the next five years, but it also created the cap space this summer to sign Myles Turner away from their Central Division rivals, the Indiana Pacers.
The Bucks were only willing to make such a daring move because of Antetokounmpo’s continued commitment to the franchise.
“I had a great conversation with Giannis back in June out here and he made it clear that he was very committed to Milwaukee,” Bucks governor Wes Edens said. “He likes being here, he likes his family being here… Obviously we’ve had some bad fortune in these last couple years in the playoffs, but there’s a lot of positives.”
“If we were really gonna make the most of our opportunity with Giannis, we felt that we needed to do something substantial, and that’s what we did,” Edens continued. “We’re excited about it. These are hard decisions that we have to make, but they are all made with the intention of trying to compete for a championship.”
Antetokounmpo claimed that he couldn’t recall any such meeting with Edens, but he was pleased with the Bucks’ offseason.
“We had a great summer, we added some great pieces. Obviously Myles Turner is gonna be huge for us,” Antetokounmpo said. “I really believe in this team. I love that we’re younger. We’re young, we have energy. I think this is a team full of dogs.”
The Bucks are younger and more athletic than they have been in years. They want to push the pace, shoot more 3-pointers and ramp up their aggression on the defensive end. As long as Antetokounmpo remains healthy, they’re going to be a good team, especially in a weakened Eastern Conference, whose last two champions will be without their best players for a majority, if not all, of the season.
But can Antetokounmpo, Turner and a bunch of “dogs” compete for a title? That seems unlikely.
Antetokounmpo has said consistently in recent years that he only wants to play for a team that has a chance to win it all, which is why there was a parade of trade rumors throughout the summer. Even as recently as August, Shams Charania reported that there was nothing “set in stone” about Antetokounmpo’s future with the Bucks.
On Monday, Antetokounmpo acknowledged that there was truth to this summer’s saga.
“Every summer there’s truth to every report,” Antetokounmpo said. “The same thing I’ve been saying my whole career: I want to be on a team that allows me and gives me a chance to win a championship and wants to compete at a high level. I think it’s a disservice to basketball, to the game, to not want to compete at a high level, to want your season to end in April. It’s pretty much the same.
“I had the same thoughts last year, I had the same thoughts two years ago, I had the same thoughts five years ago. It’s never going to change. I want to be among the best, I want to compete with the best and I want to win another championship. That’s it.”
Antetokounmpo is under contract with the Bucks through 2026-27, with a player option for 2027-28, and for now, he’s still confident he can win in Milwaukee – foolish as that may seem to some. But how long will that remain the case? That’s the question the entire league has been asking, and will continue to ask.
Antetokounmpo’s comments Monday, from some 5,000 miles and an ocean away, will do nothing to ease concerns about his long-term future in Milwaukee. But as long as he remains a Buck, he’s going to give the team and the city his all.
“My confidence is at an all-time high right now,” Antetokounmpo said. “I feel really good about myself, I feel really good about the team and I’m excited to be there. I really believe in this team.”
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