Even after Milwaukee\u2019s surprising 116-101 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday, the Bucks\u2019 season continues to spiral.<\/p>\n
Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn\u2019t publicly requested a trade, yet his intentions remain ambiguous. As reported in October<\/a> by The Athletic, New York was interested but unwilling to fully commit, believing its roster could contend as-is.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Bucks have struggled, losing 10 of their last 13 games, with Antetokounmpo missing seven contests during this stretch. A right calf strain suffered on Dec. 3<\/a> is expected to keep him out until at least early January, according to Bucks head coach Doc Rivers.<\/p>\n Hall of Famer Shaquille O\u2019Neal shared his perspective and offered his advice to Antetokounmpo during an episode<\/a> of \u201cThe Dunker Spot\u201d podcast with Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr.<\/p>\n \u201cDo what\u2019s best for you and your family,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cIn this business, they just say there\u2019s nobody who cares. My favorite Michael Jackson song is \u2018They Don\u2019t Care About Us\u2019 and you know, when you\u2019re doing great, they love you, but when s\u2014 starts to hit the fan?\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal shared how trades hit him personally, recalling the heartbreak of watching teammates move on without warning.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s expendable,\u201d he said. \u201cI said to myself, anybody can be dog meat, and I got traded, right?\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal added a pointed warning for the Bucks star and two-time NBA MVP.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019re not happy, your family\u2019s not happy, you gotta do what\u2019s best for your family because guess what, the organization\u2019s going to do what\u2019s best for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you wake up, you won\u2019t even get a call from them,\u201d O\u2019Neal said, sharing his own experience. \u201cYou\u2019ll see it on ESPN. I got traded from the Lakers on ESPN. Nobody from the Lakers even called me, like I saw it on TV.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, rival executives are largely waiting for Antetokounmpo to make a definitive statement. With the NBA trade deadline approaching on Feb. 5, the landscape could change quickly<\/a> if Antetokounmpo signals interest in a move. The Bucks\u2019 situation remains uncertain, and as The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick points out<\/a>, general manager Jon Horst isn\u2019t going to give up a player of Antetokounmpo\u2019s magnitude without getting something of value in return.<\/p>\n Until Giannis makes his position clear and the Bucks determine how to respond, Milwaukee remains mired in uncertainty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even after Milwaukee\u2019s surprising 116-101 win over the Boston Celtics on Thursday, the Bucks\u2019 season continues to spiral.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[360,355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-345249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345249","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=345249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}