Giannis Antetokounmpo could be with a different team in the next 24 hours or so, as the trade deadline is quickly approaching. Over the past week, the trade talks have ramped up more than ever, as Antetokounmpo seems to be open to playing elsewhere, and the Milwaukee Bucks are open to finding him a new home.
With any trade will come backlash from certain people, and in Antetokounmpo's case, he thinks some would assume he quit on the Bucks. Contrary to belief, Antetokounmpo believes he has done the opposite and showed it against the Denver Nuggets when he was injured.
“There’s going to be some people that are like, ‘Hey, man, when s— got hard, he left us. When it didn’t go his way, he left,’” Antetokounmpo said via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “It bothers me — which it should not be bothering me — because I don’t like to quit. I got hurt in the first quarter of the game, the last game I played. And then in the fourth quarter, I got hurt again.
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“Any other player on this planet would have — in my position, going through the season that he’s going through, and all these injuries coming back, win, lose, win, lose, inconsistent play, blah, blah — would have said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m just gonna protect my calf. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Let’s just make a business decision here.’ That’s not me though.”
There's no doubt that Antetokounmpo has the ultimate work ethic, and he shows it every time he's on the court. It's also obvious that the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee mean a lot to him, which is probably why it's been hard for them to go through the process of being in trade rumors.
At the end of the day, Antetokounmpo knows that this team is not championship-ready, and with him in his prime years, it's best to go somewhere that will give him the best chance of winning.