ESPN’s Zach Lowe Shares His Insight On Rumors Surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo And The Bucks
With the Milwaukee Bucks currently down 0-2 against the Miami Heat in the second round of the 2020 Playoffs, rumors surrounding reigning Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo have started to heat up once again. If they fail to advance to the third round, there are speculations that Antetokounmpo will decline the massive contract extension that the Bucks are planning to offer this fall and test the free agency market in the summer of 2021.
In a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast, Zach Lowe of ESPN discussed several topics, including Antetokounmpo and his future. Though most people are expecting him to leave if the Bucks fall short of achieving their main goal this year, Lowe thinks that the “Greek Freak” would still like to stay in Milwaukee.
“The vibe everybody gets from Giannis, and this is all second, third-hand whatever… is that he probably would like to stay,” Lowe said, as transcribed by RealGM. “I think he likes Milwaukee. He met his partner in Milwaukee. He has a son now in Milwaukee. I think he likes being the best player on a team and having it be his team. It’s clearly his team. But I think the case for the Bucks all along, and I think they would be honest about this if you asked them about it, the case for them all along has been winning. Winning championships. The ability to win championships. That’s the case for almost every star player.”
Most fans would likely be interested in seeing Antetokounmpo parting ways with the Bucks to join forces with other superstars somewhere else. However, though it’s already becoming normal for star players to team up, Antetokounmpo remains unsupportive of that idea. Since the 2019 offseason, he has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t have any plan of following the footsteps of other players who took the easiest road to win an NBA championship.
However, though he doesn’t see Antetokounmpo taking his talents somewhere else, Lowe believes that the Bucks should also do their part to keep him happy in Milwaukee. In order to prevent him from leaving, the Bucks should show Antetokounmpo that they are serious about maximizing his championship window. They may already be considered one of the most formidable teams in the league, but they should still continue to find ways to improve their current roster.
If they fail to make major upgrades, it wouldn’t be surprising if Antetokounmpo suddenly changes his mind about finishing his career in Milwaukee. Though the season isn’t over yet, several teams are already closely monitoring his situation with the Bucks. These include the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, and the Toronto Raptors.
