\u201cWe\u2019re not good enough, and we\u2019re not happy with it. And I think this is the first time in three years we can do something about it. I believe players want to play in Miami \u2014 some don\u2019t. I think we\u2019re a destination play. You never know until you get into the market and start having those discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Riley did know was that the Heat had already believed they were close to getting a deal done for Antetokounmpo at the February trade deadline. At the time, the Bucks decided to spend that time as a fact-finding mission of sorts before pushing the negotiations into the summer.<\/p>\n
It would take Miami four more months to get its guy, but Antetokounmpo is Miami-bound after all.<\/p>\n
Did Giannis ever connect with Myles Tuner?<\/p>\n
Sam Amick<\/p>\n
Once seen as an unknown, skinny rookie from Greece, Antetokounmpo was selected by the Bucks with the 15th pick of the 2013 draft. By his fourth season, he had developed into an All-Star. Two years after that, empowered by a new system under then-head coach Mike Budenholzer, Antetokounmpo blossomed into a perennial MVP candidate and one of the best players of his era.<\/p>\n
With a tenure in Milwaukee twice as long as that of iconic Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Antetokounmpo departs as the franchise leader in minutes, games played, points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo led the franchise to its second NBA championship with an amazing postseason run in 2021.<\/p>\n
After suffering a knee hyperextension in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals that was expected to keep him out for at least six weeks, Antetokounmpo returned to action in Game 1 of the NBA Finals just six days later and led the Bucks to their first championship since 1971. He scored 50 points in Game 6, tying Bob Pettit for the most points in a finals-clinching victory, and took home the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow they respect us, man. Milwaukee is on the f\u2014ing map again, you know what I\u2019m saying,\u201d Antetokounmpo told The Athletic<\/a> after the championship parade through the city. \u201cThey gotta put some respect on our name.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the pursuit of a second championship has not gone the way Antetokounmpo and the Bucks wanted. The closest the franchise came was a second-round exit the next year; the Bucks crashed out in the first round over the next three seasons and missed the playoffs this year. This season\u2019s result led to serious discussions between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks about parting ways.<\/p>\n The possibility agonized Antetokounmpo, as he told The Athletic in an exclusive interview<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always go back to the Bucks, the Bucks, the Bucks, and if I\u2019m going to stay here, if I\u2019m not gonna stay here,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cLet\u2019s put the Bucks on the side for one second. Let\u2019s talk about the city itself, the memories that I\u2019ve created here. When you open my kids\u2019 passports, it says Milwaukee, Wis. Born in Milwaukee, Wis. I had four kids in the span of the last five years in this city. My dad is buried in this city. I\u2019ve built a house for my mom 10 seconds away from my house. Literally, to walk to my mom\u2019s front door, it takes me four seconds \u2026 right next door.<\/p>\n \u201cOn what planet, on what Earth, would somebody want to leave this?\u201d<\/p>\n Still, as he has said several times, he needs the opportunity to compete. This season, the Bucks finished 32-50, 11th in the Eastern Conference and 11 games behind Miami for the final Play-In spot. Those struggles brought Antetokounmpo\u2019s future with the team to the forefront.<\/p>\n Antetokounmpo\u2019s future in Milwaukee has often been discussed over the last eight seasons, but he and the franchise have always found a path forward together.<\/p>\n After the Bucks\u2019 first deep playoff run with Antetokounmpo and their eventual exit in the 2019 Eastern Conference finals, Antetokounmpo\u2019s willingness to sign a supermax extension was questioned in an ESPN report<\/a>. That turned into a long saga in 2020<\/a> before Antetokounmpo eventually signed the largest contract in NBA history<\/a> (at the time) with the Bucks.<\/p>\n In 2023, two seasons after winning the title, the Bucks fired Budenholzer and hired first-time head coach Adrian Griffin. Before the start of that season, though, Antetokounmpo made clear in an interview with The New York Times<\/a> that his team needed to be serious about competing for championships.<\/p>\n \u201cWinning a championship comes first,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be 20 years on the same team and don\u2019t win another championship.\u201d<\/p>\n One month later, the Bucks swung a blockbuster deal for superstar Damian Lillard. Antetokounmpo extended his contract shortly thereafter. Ultimately, the partnership didn\u2019t work out, as Lillard tore his left Achilles tendon in the 2025 playoffs. Though it was the third straight first-round exit for Milwaukee, it was also the fourth consecutive postseason injury \u2014 after Khris Middleton\u2019s MCL strain in 2022 and Antetokounmpo\u2019s lower back injury in 2023 and left soleus strain in 2024 \u2014 that significantly affected a Bucks postseason run.<\/p>\n With Lillard sidelined for the entire 2025-26 season, Bucks general manager Jon Horst stunned the league by opting to waive and stretch Lillard\u2019s contract to create room for center Myles Turner and hopefully help the Bucks stay in the playoff picture. Nevertheless, the drama surrounding Antetokounmpo\u2019s future started early in the season.<\/p>\n During training camp, an ESPN report<\/a> brought trade discussions between the Bucks and New York Knicks to light. Though then-Bucks coach Doc Rivers refuted that report, Antetokounmpo acknowledged that the offseason was a time when temptation could be very real for him.<\/p>\n Speculation about Antetokounmpo\u2019s future in Milwaukee continued once the Bucks\u2019 season started to go sideways. In early December, ESPN reported<\/a> that Antetokounmpo\u2019s agent had reached out to the Bucks about what would be best for the 10-time All-Star.<\/p>\n When Antetokounmpo returned to the floor in late December after missing 14 of the Bucks\u2019 first 31 games, he was on a minutes limit, but the Bucks were winning games. Despite winning four of his first five games back, Antetokounmpo regularly critiqued the game plan of his former coach.<\/p>\n Entering the 2025-26 season, Rivers and the organization touted a vision of Antetokounmpo as a point forward, using his playmaking to get the most out of a roster built around him. Still, when he returned, Rivers did not use him that way.<\/p>\n Pointing to Antetokounmpo\u2019s minutes limit, a desire to limit the wear and tear on his body and the emergence of Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins, Rivers used Antetokounmpo more as a screen-setter and roller in two-man actions. Antetokounmpo regularly criticized the decision until his second injury in late January.<\/p>\n \n Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers and Giannis Antetokounmpo clashed over how the star was used offensively last season. (John Fisher \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n With the trade deadline approaching, rumors about Antetokounmpo\u2019s future started to swirl again. Then, a week before the trade deadline<\/a>, Horst took the unprecedented step of considering trade offers for him.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be here, but I want to be here to win, not fighting for my life to make the playoffs,\u201d Antetokounmpo told The Athletic<\/a> two days before the deadline. \u201cI\u2019m not used to inconsistent basketball. I\u2019ve played so many years of consistent basketball, I am not used to it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n In the end, Horst and the organization chose to hold on to Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season, but the drama persisted in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n As first reported by\u00a0The Athletic, the Bucks approached Antetokounmpo about sitting out the final 14 games of the season as he tried to return from an injury. He did not play another game for the Bucks, missing the final 15 games of the regular season, but maintained throughout the process that he was healthy and ready to be cleared to return to action.<\/p>\n![\"Bucks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2266153760-scaled.jpg\")
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