Giannis Antetokounmpo has an intriguing claim on being the best basketball player on the planet and, at the very least, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar is in the NBA’s top tier. That was made clear when he earned MVP honors last season (with “favorite” status for 2019-20) but, even before his most recent leap on the floor, Antetokounmpo’s free agent status was a league-wide talking point. As part of the Bucks’ Media Day festivities, Antetokounmpo was prompted about the looming decision he must make and, after saying he was “not gonna talk about it a lot this season,” he gave a bit of insight as to why.
“I feel like if you have a great team, and our goal is to win a championship and be the last team standing and get better each day, I think it’s disrespectful towards my teammates talking about my free agency and what I’m going through,” Antetokounmpo told reporters on Monday. “So when the time is right, we’re all gonna talk about it. I don’t think the time is right.”
Milwaukee is a legitimate title contender this season, fresh off a 60-win season and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. While the Bucks are not necessarily the favorites to claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy, that is their only reasonable team goal for the upcoming campaign and, as such, Antetokounmpo will be dealing with different locker room dynamics than some top-tier free agents (i.e. Anthony Davis) were facing in recent years.
With that as the backdrop, it makes sense that Antetokounmpo would want to keep the spotlight away from free agency, even when reality dictates that it will be a talking point throughout the season. In fact, Bucks GM Jon Horst was already fined for publicly stating Milwaukee’s desire to sign Antetokounmpo to a supermax deal as soon as possible, and many of the league’s new tampering regulations almost appear geared toward the Bucks’ star directly.
It would go a long way for Antetokounmpo to shoot down questions about his future during the season and he may choose to do so with enough consistency to slow the inquiries. Still, there is no denying the importance of the upcoming season when it comes to Milwaukee’s chances to keep their superstar and the topic is largely unavoidable as a result.
