Giannis says he will never ask for trade from Bucks: ‘That’s not in my nature’

SAN FRANCISCO — If anyone wondered whether Giannis Antetokounmpo was feeling bogged down by all the trade rumors that constantly surround him these days, the answer was there for all to see outside the visitors’ locker room at Chase Center late Wednesday night.

His entire family — his wife, Mariah, and their four young children — created a joyful scene that belied the disappointing nature of his Milwaukee Bucks’ 120-113 loss to the Golden State Warriors. His oldest son, 5-year-old Liam, dribbled a basketball around his siblings and begged his mother to play the part of the actual hoop. Mariah obliged, holding her arms in the shape of a rim as he looked for his shot.

The kids goofed around with several Bucks staff members, including vice president of basketball operations Dave Dean. Giannis’ mother, Veronica, sat on a chair nearby, smiling. One of his brothers, Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, joined in on the family fun a few minutes later.

Amid all the league-wide speculation that Antetokounmpo might finally ask for a trade before the Feb. 5 deadline, this was not the sort of happy-go-lucky scene that one might expect from an NBA superstar looking to force his way out. And as the 31-year-old explained in our 11-minute interview that took place on his slow walk to the team bus, that’s because he’s not.

“There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment, that I will come out and say ‘I want a trade,’” Antetokounmpo, who can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2027, told The Athletic. “That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?”

The pauses between each of his words reflected a deliberateness that wasn’t there on Dec. 18, when his attempt to address the latest ESPN report about his possible departure resulted in a word-salad sort of news conference that only made the optics surrounding his situation worse. Yet this time around, Antetokounmpo’s message was quite clear.

Even with the struggles that this Bucks team (16-21) has endured, with their loss to the Warriors dropping them to 11th place in the Eastern Conference, he sounded like a man committed to this cause. No matter how flawed it might be.

Even with injuries costing Antetokounmpo 14 of the Bucks’ 37 games to this point, the two-time MVP is on track to be among the top finishers for the award again this season (he can’t miss more than three additional games to remain eligible). Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.5 points (64.5 percent from the field overall), 10 rebounds and 5.5 assists, making him just one of two players hitting those 29-10-5 marks. Denver’s three-time MVP, the injured Nikola Jokić, is the other.

Yet for the Bucks’ purposes, you simply can’t find anyone with a bad thing to say about Antetokounmpo’s level of commitment throughout this controversy. That alone is evidence that he’s not planning his exit. Not yet, anyway.

“If you’re around the team every day, and you saw those reports, you would laugh,” coach Doc Rivers told The Athletic. “He’s given no indication (that he wants out). That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t change his mind, or whatever. But Giannis loves being in Milwaukee. He loves playing for this team. If something happens someday, where he changes his mind, I’d actually be surprised. But that can happen.

“But it’s frustrating for me. Giannis, two or three times now, has said, ‘Guys, I’m here. I love it.’”

There will certainly be questions about Antetokounmpo’s intentions after this season. And even if he never asks for a trade, his stance on the four-year, $275 million extension that he’s eligible for on Oct. 1 will speak volumes about what he truly wants.

Assuming, of course, that his declaration about not asking out holds true. All the signs are aimed in that direction at this point.

The following interview was lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

So I’ve been around you and your team for a few days now, talking to people about your mindset and trying to get a better sense of things. I want to share my opinion and have you tell me if I’m off or not: It feels like there’s no chance that you’re going anywhere before Feb. 5.

What’s Feb. 5?

Cue the laughter from this reporter…

The trade deadline. And before you answer, here’s the thing: The way that people have talked about your situation is that the only way you were going to get traded is if you decided in the next few weeks that you were done and that you would have to make a statement that you want out. I’m not getting that energy at all from you. Is that fair?

One hundred percent. I think I’ve answered this question a lot of times. I’m not throwing a knock at you, but I keep on saying (that) conversations that are happening between other people, third parties, it’s something that I can’t control. I can’t control what you’re going to say with my agent, or with my best friend, or with my chef. I can only control what comes out of my mouth. And not one time have I shown that I’m not invested in this team. And if there was a time on the basketball court where you’ve seen that, “Oh, Giannis doesn’t look like he wants to be a part of this team no more,” I want you to pinpoint that. There’s never been an interview where I’ve said that. So I don’t know why people discredit what I say. Like, even when your article will come out … people will say, “Yeah, but. Yeah, but.”

Sure, but that’s kind of why I wanted to see if you were willing and comfortable to say, like, listen, I’m not going anywhere right now.

I am not (going anywhere). I am invested in this team. I want to turn this team around. I want to play good basketball. I want to be healthy. I want to help my teammates. I wanna win games. The last six games we’ve played, we’re 4-2. We have a lot of games in front of us. I’m locked the f— in. I’m locked in. My priority is just staying healthy.

The way your situation has been framed is that in the next few weeks, before Feb. 5, you have to decide whether or not you want out. Am I hearing you correctly that you have decided?

As of today. You know how they say this thing about your significant other, or your wife, you always have to say, “As of today.”

I hear you, but that’s the stuff where the fans are then going to say, “Oh, he’s leaving an out.”

I don’t care. I really don’t. It doesn’t affect me at all. What I care about is basketball. I want to be good at what I do. And there’s some things that I have to do, which I will do on the basketball court. But until today, my guy (Bucks director of content) Nick (Monroe, who was standing nearby) has been with me for 13 years, and it’s been great. Tomorrow, when I wake up, it may not be great. Today, our relationship is great. Tomorrow it might be different. It’s the same thing with my wife. Until today, my wife is great. She’s a great mother. She’s a great partner. She supports me. Until today. Tomorrow, she might wake up and be like, “I don’t want this. I fell out of love.” Until today, me and (Bucks general manager) Jon (Horst) have a good relationship. Tomorrow, (Horst) might think there’s something else out there, and he might have to do whatever he has to do.

You know, for me, right now, today, I am committed — not 100 percent, but 1 million percent to my teammates, to my craft, to this team, and to this city. One million percent. I don’t look right. I don’t look left. I look only to the next game, which is the Lakers, and I want to win the game. I want us to stack wins before the All-Star game to get ourselves back to the race. We’re what, 11th now? This is not who we are, you know? So that’s the only thing in my mindset.

But you’re planning on being here through the end of the season, correct?

My plan is to be here for the rest of my career. If they don’t want me …

OK, but you’re the one in charge (of this situation). Let’s be real.

I’m not the one in charge. I am an employee.

No, you’re not. I’m not letting you get away with that.

I’m just being real with you. Look at it this way: I have a family office … where I have employees who work for me, people who run my whole life. Business. The day-to-day. Investment. Real estate. Venture (capital). Endorsements. Everything. It’s between eight-to-12 employees, but I’m in charge. You know why? Because I’m the boss — the chairman. But on the court, I can only control what I can control. I’m not in charge. Somebody writes my check. Tomorrow, the person who writes my check might say, “I don’t want to write that check no more. Let somebody else write that check.”

But in terms of the part you control, you’re not saying anything that makes me believe you’re going to use your voice to change your situation before the deadline.

No. No. I’m locked in. I am locked in to my craft. I’m locked in with the team. I am locked into the situation that I have in front of me. That’s pretty much it. And there will never be a scenario on this planet that I will ever quit on my team. That’s not in my nature.

Are you losing sleep over this at all, or are you still managing to enjoy the game right now? You’re obviously not enjoying losing, but …

No, I don’t enjoy losing. It’s not in my nature. I’m a competitor. I like to win. I like to win.

You don’t seem very stressed, though. You seem good. And with some players, when the world talks about them, they can’t handle the noise.

It doesn’t affect my kids. It doesn’t affect my wife. My life is consistent. If you see the common denominator between the best players in the league, they have a consistent outside life. LeBron James. Steph Curry. (Nikola) Jokić, Luka (Dončić), Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). They have something consistent. So all the noise that (spills over onto) the basketball court. If you let that affect your life, you won’t be consistent in basketball. So if you have a consistent life, you can have consistent performance. Through the last 13 years, I’m consistent on the basketball court because my life is (consistent). You saw my kids. You saw my wife. It doesn’t affect me at all. There will never be a chance, and there will never be a moment that I will come out and say I want a trade. That’s not … in … my … nature. OK?

Are you saying you wouldn’t do that publicly or privately too?

Well, I have seen that my team said (in the media that), “If Giannis doesn’t ask for a trade, we’re not trading him,” so what does that tell you? That I have never gone and asked for a trade.

But like you said, things change every day. Just making sure. It could have happened at breakfast today.

Right. So just because I like my eggs scrambled today, I don’t have the opportunity to eat my eggs sunny-side up tomorrow? We’re human, right? So it’s the same thing in basketball. But again, in my nature, I will never. I will never. That’s not who I am.

Can this team figure it out?

Well, that’s a different conversation.

I know, and you’ve gotta go. I just wanted your quick opinion on it.

Yes, but we’ve got to be winning. You cannot win on your own terms, right? Do you think when I won the championship (in 2021), that I didn’t want to have the ball down the stretch and make all the shots that (former Bucks guard) Khris (Middleton) was making? I wanted that. But at the end of the day, winning cannot be on your terms. So I feel like sometimes on young teams, you have to win by you being pretty, by you being the ball-dominant player, by you feeling good and making the plays. No, you have to be selfless. You have to be selfless. I’ve seen this over and over again.

Antetokounmpo, with his passion rising as he speaks over the loud beeping sounds of a nearby forklift, starts clapping his hands together.

I have seen it over and over. There’s some people that you have to play through them to win the championship. And there’s some teams like, say, two years ago when Boston won. Was Jrue Holiday his 100 percent self? No, he played a role. He was part of a system. Al Horford. Derrick White. (Payton) Pritchard. (Jayson) Tatum and Jaylen Brown were able to thrive. Winning doesn’t always look the same. It’s either you’re a winner, or you’re not a winner. I want to win. I want to win. And the thing about this team is that as long as we figure out, “How can we be selfless and give things away?” It’s buying into winning — really winning — and then we are going to figure it out. And if we don’t buy in, we don’t come together.

I’ve been a part of winning teams, and winning teams don’t always win championships, right? Indiana was a winning team but didn’t wind up with the championship. So I’ve seen some teams, and some players, who are buying in — like (Kyle) Kuzma. Kuzma won a championship (with the Lakers in 2020), then went to Washington and played a lot of years. He’s a vet. But he’s the most bought-in player, right? He’s coming off the bench making $25 million ($22.4 million this season, in fact). He could be like, “Guys, I’m the third option. I’m second option. Give me the ball.” But he is buying in. He’s coming off of the bench. Then he starts. Comes off the bench. Gets touches. Doesn’t get touches. That’s what winning looks like, you know?

With the entire team waiting on a nearby bus, a member of the team’s security staff hollers for Antetokounmpo to rejoin his team en route to the hotel. He shouts back, “One second!” before finishing his final thought.

But to answer your question, I think we have to buy in more. Winning won’t always look the way we want it to look. Maybe one day I have to have 20 rebounds, eight assists, 12 points. But then maybe another night (he) has to do more things. But winning doesn’t always look the same.