Giannis Antetokounmpo seemingly is in his final days wearing a Bucks uniform.
Giannis Antetokounmpo seemingly is in his final days wearing a Bucks uniform.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
It appears the Bucks and superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo are nearing a mutual divorce, perhaps as soon as Thursday.
For the past four years, since the Bucks rallied to win the 2021 NBA championship over the Suns, the organization has been trying to maintain a championship team around the generational talent but its attempts have failed miserably.
The Bucks are now one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference and Antetokounmpo, 31, wants to compete for another championship and realizes the best place to do that is outside of Milwaukee.
How did we get here? Well the Bucks lost to the Celtics in the conference semifinals in 2022, and a year later won 58 games before getting thumped by the eighth-seeded Heat in a series dominated by Jimmy Butler.
After that, Mike Budenholzer was fired and replaced by first-time head coach Adrian Griffin. And while Griffin began the season 30-13, there was dissention in the locker room. Griffin clashed with assistant coach Terry Stotts, who resigned early in the 2023-24 season. And then there was the infamous incident in Boston where Antetokounmpo was removed from a game and was visibly upset about being pulled.
Antetokounmpo then got into an exchange with Griffin at the TD Garden scorer’s table and checked himself into the game. Griffin was fired and replaced by former Celtics coach Doc Rivers but by then the damage had been done.
The acquisition of Damian Lillard was a disaster because he and Antetokounmpo couldn’t stay healthy at the same time and the Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs two years in a row. Mainstay Khris Middleton was sent off to Washington for Kyle Kuzma, another move to help retain Antetokounmpo, and that also failed.
Lillard was shockingly waived this past summer to make room to sign Myles Turner and, well, that hasn’t worked either. With little draft capital, aging players, and no All-Star talent besides Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are inclined to make a move to replenish their roster, tank to get a lottery pick, and perhaps begin fresh.
Antetokounmpo does not want to be tabbed as unhappy or breaking his relationship with Milwaukee, and has maintained he will never ask for a trade. But that doesn’t mean his representation won’t suggest a breakup.
Timing is critical because the trade deadline is Thursday and the Bucks want to make sure they get the best package in return for arguably the franchise’s greatest player. And there is history here. More than 50 years ago, another Bucks franchise player wanted out of Milwaukee and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, Elmore Smith, and Dave Meyers. Winters and Bridgeman eventually had their numbers retired in Milwaukee, but the return for perhaps the greatest center of all time and former all-time leading scorer came up short.
The Bucks realize they are not a franchise that’s going to attract major free agents and there are definitely options for a deal — such as the Heat, Knicks, and Warriors. The best move for Milwaukee is to wait for the most lucrative package.
Antetokounmpo wants to compete for championships and remains a championship-caliber player although he has been injury prone in recent years, dealing with multiple calf strains, including one currently. The question any team will have to ponder is whether this is a sign of physical decline or just misfortune.
Because of the Middleton and Lillard trades, the Bucks lack the draft capital to entice Antetokounmpo to stay. The good news regarding a possible return is the Bucks own the Pelicans’ 2026 first-round pick as a return for their acquisition of Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans in 2020.
But the Bucks don’t own any of their first-round picks until 2031 because of previous trades to acquire veterans to help Antetokounmpo. Whether trading for Lillard was the right move or whether general manager Jon Horst sent out Middleton too soon is going to perhaps haunt the organization. But it’s not that it didn’t try to get Giannis help. The help just wasn’t enough.
Kuzma has spent his career as a flaky, inconsistent player. Turner is a solid center but not All-Star caliber. Bobby Portis is aging, and none of the team’s recent draft picks have been able to have an impact.
Small- and medium-market teams are going to have difficulty with roster building if they don’t land on draft picks and free agents.
The Bucks were a veteran team five years ago when they won the championship and now they are in a rebuilding situation. Rivers was hired because of his Celtics championship pedigree to lead the club to prosperity, but he’s simply been part of the decline and is likely to lose his job because of it.
In 2013, Rivers told then-Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge he did not want to be part of a rebuilding plan and left for the Clippers. Some 13 years later, Rivers is older and vying to cement his legacy with another championship. That is not likely to happen in Milwaukee because the team has to move on from a player it never envisioned parting with even two years ago.
FOLLOWING UP
More to Hunter’s time with NBPA
Our conversation with Billy Hunter revealed a lot of nuggets that were never revealed during his time as the executive director of the National Basketball Players Association.
Before he was ousted by the players in 2013, Hunter said he had plans with NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw to form a bank financed by their respective associations that would provide loans and other financial services to players. They actually held meetings with former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke about forming a financial institution. The idea never came to fruition.
“I said to Gene, ‘Look, the two of us can come together, our two unions. and, you know, we’ve got players. Your players are earning at that time, and NFL players were earning about $3 billion. And we were at $2 billion something.’” Hunter said. “And I said, we got all these kids who are buying homes and cars and credit cards and trying to set up retirement plans, etc., that we can provide that service to our two groups. And what I had done at the time I had looked at about there were 10 Black banks along the East Coast that collectively didn’t have over a billion dollars in reserves or whatever, or their ability to loan.
“And I said we’ve got, we’ve got these guys here that we can drive business. You know, we can make it so we don’t have to charge 26 percent on a credit card. We could charge 15 percent and we can get everybody in the country that would come and take our credit card, because it would be our bank. And you know, your group would earn 10 percent, we would own 10 percent because we couldn’t own more than that, otherwise, we’d run into problems with the Department of Labor and everybody else.”
The NBPA has made advancements since Hunter’s departure, such as contributing to health insurance for former players who were uncovered, such as those from the American Basketball Association, and those who were under covered. And after the tragic heart-related deaths of Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone in 2015, the NBPA conducted free health screenings for former players to detect heart and other related issues.
Former NBPA executive director Billy Hunter's duries included looking out for former Celtics Antoine Walker (left) and Paul Pierce.
Former NBPA executive director Billy Hunter's duries included looking out for former Celtics Antoine Walker (left) and Paul Pierce.Jim Davis/Globe Staff
Hunter said he had plans to work with the players to invest their money and offer financial literacy after a string of professional athletes, such as former Celtic Antoine Walker, experienced financial problems after their careers.
“I was trying to do that and create a lot of other opportunities for the Union and for players, you know, once their careers were over,” Hunter said. “I saw the opportunity, and so that’s what I was doing. Sometimes folks say to me, you know, you were just ahead of your time. Yeah, I agree. Because a lot of what you were talking about, people are now doing.”
The NBA has been beset with gambling controversies since the league began affiliating with gambling sites a few years ago. Former Celtics Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and Damon Jones have been indicted in gambling-related schemes. Hunter said he did not envision the league becoming affiliated with gambling sites, but doesn’t understand why players are risking their careers to become involved in betting.
“I guess the question is why, why it’s necessary?” he said. “But all the money that they’re making, the average guy, the people who they can’t comprehend it. You know people are struggling to survive. And if a guy is making $10-15-20-30-40 million a year, isn’t that enough to live off of? I think that’s kind of the attitude, but you got to look at the overall climate in the country, and the attitude in terms of where people are. Man, it’s just there’s so much corruption and immorality that, you know, it’s all part of it.”
Hunter revealed the details of his unceremonious exit from the NBPA and the lawsuit the players filed against him. There was a perception that Hunter agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that would put the players at a financial disadvantage and that he was somehow funneling money from NBPA events.
“How can I put it? I was so busy trying to protect myself in the end, because what they did was they made, they referred the matter to the US Department to the Southern District of New York. Says it was a grand jury opened up on me there and then they made a complaint before the US Labor Department, all right, said that I was doing something wrong.”
Hunter said he actually was creating a fund from players’ salaries that would help provide financial support for those who needed money during a potential lockout or strike. If there was no work stoppage, the money would be distributed back to the players.
“But you know, when it came in, they did an audit,” he said. “They audited me, they bought in. Was in touch with Deloitte Touche. They audited the books. They seized my computer, and I had like 70,000 emails on it, even though I’ve been a prosecutor and all that and years before, I never thought it was early in the game. I never thought they had my own separate email address and so but they took all of that, and so they examined me like a microscope. But they never found anything.”
Not only was Hunter told not to come to All-Star Weekend in Houston because his firing was imminent, he was also locked out of his New York office. He said the NBPA had armed security at the door, with the media also present to nab Hunter trying to get into his office.
“They waiting for you to come so they can embarrass you,” Hunter said he was told. “So I turned around and went home. I didn’t go back. So I was then informed that they had armed security, that I’m not supposed to come to the office. It took them, like, six months before I even got my personal property out of the office. And I think the one guy who kind of raised hell about it was [former Celtic] Paul Pierce, who was saying that I should be given an opportunity to come before the players, to address them for whatever accusations were being made.”
In addition to the stress of the NBPA ordeal, Hunter’s wife was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone-marrow transplant.
“She’s still undergoes treatment every like every 33 months to make sure cancer stays in remission,” he said. “So I was dealing with my wife got ill, and me trying to deal … with the grace of God. Man, you know, I’m a strong believer, and that’s what I relied upon.
“I had some guys who supported me, who I am indebted to because they stood by me. A few, you know, a few of them. But you know now, yeah, I’ll get calls. Guys will say, man, hey, [it’s] because of you that this happened and where the players are today, etc., but I’ve kind of moved on, you know. I’ve got my grandchildren that have developed, and I spent a lot of time with them, you know, I’m writing a book.”
Interim coach Tiago Splitter has Yang Hansen and the Trail Blazers pointed in the right direction in the Western Conference.
Interim coach Tiago Splitter has Yang Hansen and the Trail Blazers pointed in the right direction in the Western Conference.Howard Lao/Associated Press
Layups
The Trail Blazers don’t have to make any decisions yet but they appear content with the job interim coach Tiago Splitter has done in relief of Chauncey Billups, who took a leave of absence after being arrested in an alleged poker scheme. Billups was released on bail and remains away from the team awaiting trial. Portland has aspirations of competing for a play-in spot and are within striking distance as the trade deadline approaches. The Blazers entered Friday in the ninth slot in the West, tied with the resurgent Clippers, who have won 15 of 18 games, with one of those losses a 31-point shellacking by the Celtics. The return of former third overall pick Scoot Henderson, who has missed all season with a torn hamstring, would also provide a boost in Portland … The Rockets were already in search of a point guard at the trade deadline and now add center to that list when the club announced veteran big man Steven Adams would miss the rest of the season after undergoing ankle surgery. Adams teamed with veteran Clint Capela to give Houston two imposing defenders in the paint. Now they’ll have to fill his role on the trade or buyout market. Houston has an immediate need at point guard with Reed Sheppard filling in but still struggling with distribution in his second season. Incumbent point guard Fred VanVleet is out for the season with a torn ACL … The plan was for the Wizards to tank, get a high lottery pick, and then use free agency to fill a max salary slot to join the recently acquired Trae Young. But the Wizards are starting to improve with second-year center Alex Sarr turning into a franchise cornerstone. Washington snapped a nine-game losing streak with a home win over the Trail Blazers followed by a victory over the freefalling Bucks. The Wizards entered Friday with the league’s fourth-worst record, ahead of the sinking Kings, Pelicans, and Pacers, another tanking team playing better but still in the mix for the No. 1 overall draft pick … Former Celtics and current Bucks coach Doc Rivers is scheduled to join ESPN’s studio pregame show in advance of the Pioneers Classic between the Celtics and Bucks on Sunday at TD Garden. The game honors the 75th anniversary of the great Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton being the first Black players drafted in the NBA.
The Patriots are heading to the Super Bowl. Ben Volin and Dan Shaughnessy are in Denver to break down the AFC Championship game and preview Super Bowl LX.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.