![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_0165-1024x682.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t \t\t\tGet a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee\n\t\t\t\t \t\t<\/p>\n
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Pete Nance poses for photos during Media Day at Fiserv Forum. Photo taken Sept. 29, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.<\/p>\n
Are the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> ready for the 2025-2026 season? They will be\u2014just as soon as star player Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> is back in the U.S.<\/p>\n The two-time MVP came down with COVID-19 after leading the Greek national team to a bronze medal in the EuroBasket tournament earlier this month. He remains in Athens, awaiting a negative test result before traveling, but made a virtual appearance at Bucks Media Day on Monday.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters via Zoom, Antetokounmpo said his confidence is \u201cat an all-time high\u201d as the offseason winds down. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to get on the court with the guys and try to represent the team in the best way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The power forward also noted excitement to continue building momentum with teammates old and new\u2014especially now that the roster skews young. With the departure of Brook Lopez<\/a>, Damian Lillard<\/a>, Pat Connaughton<\/a> and Khris Middleton<\/a>, Thanasis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, 33, is now the oldest Buck.<\/p>\n \u201cI really believe in this team,\u201d Giannis said, noting that the addition of Myles Turner<\/a> \u201cis going to be huge\u201d for Milwaukee. \u201cWe\u2019re young, we have energy\u2014I think this is a team full of dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner was a recurring topic throughout the day, with Bucks co-owner and governor Wes Edens<\/a> called the center forward \u201can unbelievable addition.\u201d General Manager Jon Horst<\/a> added: \u201cAt the end of the day, Miles really, really wants to win.\u201d Last year, the then-Indiana Pacers player \u201cwas right there on the verge of doing it\u2014he tasted it and he wants that more than anything. He chose us for the opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tGet a daily rundown of the Milwaukee stories\t<\/p>\n Head Coach Doc Rivers<\/a> emphasized the team\u2019s focus on depth heading into the season. \u201cI think that\u2019s the new format: surrounding a star with a bunch of good players,\u201d he said. \u201cThe deeper your roster, the more guys that can play, the better your team\u2019s going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Reporters also heard from key players, including Turner, Bobby Portis<\/a>, Gary Trent Jr.<\/a>,\u00a0Kevin Porter Jr.<\/a>, Amir Coffey<\/a> and Cole Anthony<\/a>.<\/p>\n Portis, now entering his 11th NBA season, reflected on his own evolution from rookie to team leader\u2014and how quickly time passes. \u201cSometimes you get so caught up in trying to be good and trying to be great, trying to be the best version of yourself every year that the years just kind of catch up to you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But this year could be different. \u201cI\u2019ve got a different outlook. What\u2019s next for us is me being a leader, being able to step up and coach the young guys and take them under my wing. I\u2019ve always been a leader, but I think now it\u2019s just at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bucks start the regular season with a game against the Washington Wizards at Fiserv Forum on Oct. 22.<\/p>\n Photos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee Pete Nance poses for photos during Media…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-192653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}