{"id":323796,"date":"2025-12-04T00:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323796\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T00:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T00:49:09","slug":"bucks-coach-doc-rivers-disputes-report-that-antetokounmpo-is-talking-with-team-about-his-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323796\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucks coach Doc Rivers disputes report that Antetokounmpo is talking with team about his future"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday there have been no talks between team officials and Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> regarding the two-time MVP\u2019s potential exit from Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

Rivers\u2019 comments before the Bucks\u2019 game against Detroit came following an ESPN report that Antetokounmpo and his agent, Alex Saratsis, had started speaking with the Bucks about the superstar\u2019s future and whether he\u2019s best suited to stay in Milwaukee or play elsewhere. Rivers said \u201cthere\u2019s been no conversations\u201d in that regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiannis has never asked to be traded \u2014 ever,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cI can\u2019t make that more clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo\u2019s future has been the subject of much speculation around the NBA ever since the Bucks made a third consecutive first-round playoff exit last season.<\/p>\n

ESPN reported before the season that the Bucks and New York Knicks<\/a> engaged in trade talks regarding Antetokounmpo in August but never gained traction on a potential deal. According to ESPN, Antetokounmpo had indicated New York was the only place he wanted to play outside of Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

After that report, Antetokounmpo expressed confidence in what the Bucks could accomplish this season and said he was \u201clocked in,\u201d but he also acknowledged the possibility he could change his mind depending on how things developed over the next several months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in this team,\u201d Antetokounmpo said at the time. \u201cI believe in my teammates. I\u2019m here to lead this team to whatever we can go. It\u2019s definitely going to be hard. We\u2019re going to take it day by day, but I\u2019m here. All the added extra stuff, that doesn\u2019t matter. I think I\u2019ve communicated with my teammates, communicated with the people that I respect and love, that the moment that I step in on this court, in this facility, I wear this jersey. The rest does not matter. I\u2019m locked into whatever I have I front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow if in six, seven months I change my mind, that\u2019s human, too. You\u2019re allowed to make any decision you want. But I\u2019m locked in. I\u2019m locked into this team. I\u2019m locked into these guys, this group, and to my coaching staff and to myself.<\/p>\n

Since then, the Bucks have struggled.<\/p>\n

The Bucks entered Wednesday 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 9-13 record after dropping eight of their last nine games. That includes a seven-game skid in which Antetokounmpo missed four games with a left adductor strain.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just call a spade a spade,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cWe\u2019re not playing well. We had a tough loss (at Washington) the other night, and so now, this is the subject matter. It\u2019s no more true than it was this summer. Does it affect our team and our players? I hope not. I can tell you after listening to our guys talk today, it doesn\u2019t. But that doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t. I can\u2019t answer that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivers then reiterated his belief that Antetokounmpo has no interest in leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I keep saying is I go to the source,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cI talk to the source every single day \u2013 every single day \u2013 and he loves Milwaukee and he loves the Bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first title in half a century in 2021, scoring 50 points in the Game 6 clincher against the Phoenix Suns<\/a>. But the Bucks have won just one playoff series since and have lost in the first round of the postseason each of the last three years.<\/p>\n

The Bucks have made plenty of blockbuster moves the last few years while trying to win another title. Antetokounmpo repeatedly has said he would like to stay in Milwaukee but prioritizes playing for a team committed to contending for championships.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee acquired seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard<\/a> to team up with Antetokounmpo shortly before the 2023-24 season, but injuries caused them to play just two playoff games together from start to finish.<\/p>\n

After Lillard tore his Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs \u2013 knocking him out for the 2025-26 season \u2013 the Bucks took another big swing by waiving him and stretching the rest of his salary for the next five years to create the cap room to sign former Indiana Pacers<\/a> center Myles Turner<\/a>. The Bucks hoped they had built an ideal supporting cast for Antetokounmpo by getting younger and more athletic.<\/p>\n

During the Bucks\u2019 m edia day event before training camp, owner Wes Edens said he\u2019d had a \u201cgreat conversation\u201d with Antetokounmpo in June and that the nine-time all-NBA selection had \u201cmade it clear that he was very committed to Milwaukee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo was asked about that conversation later during that event and he said he couldn\u2019t recall that meeting.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/p>\n

Steve Megargee, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Wednesday there have been no talks between team officials and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-323796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}