The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Indiana Pacers by the score of 105-99 on Friday night. For the first time in the 2025-26 NBA season, Milwaukee has now won three games in a row. They are now 21-29 on the season, but they are not counting themselves out of possibly being able to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament of the NBA Playoffs.
But, perhaps, what is the most important part of Bucks basketball this week is that ten-time All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo was not traded at the NBA trade deadline as many national media members predicted. He is still out with a calf injury, but when he does return to the floor, it will be as a member of the only NBA franchise he has ever known.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis gets real on how the Giannis trade rumors affect the team
Jan 21, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) puts up a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
Last night, Portis returned from a two-game absence due to a hip injury. He scored 21 points of the bench and also had six rebounds and an assist.
After the game, which got chippy at the end against the hated Pacers, Portis was asked about how the Giannis trade rumors throughout the week had affected the team.
He responded (per Eric Nehm):
“It’s a lot, man. Being on a team with Giannis all these years and it’s like an every year thing, so just gotta prepare for it. Soon as May comes and if our season ends and whatever it does, it’s coming right back.
“But it ain’t nothing you can run from, for real. It’s just what comes with it. So, it’s off for now, but to be determined later, I guess, man. You know, the rumors, the narratives, the whatever it is, it’s nonstop.”
It is, indeed, true that the rumors surrounding Milwaukee’s two-time NBA MVP circulate every year. Every summer, every trade deadline, the rumors are always there.
And it does not seem to matter what Giannis or the Bucks say to dispel them. Unfortunately, it seems that, especially this year, they brought a cloud over the entire team. The fact that Milwaukee has not been playing good basketball, even with Giannis, plays a part in that, but the uncertainty spread on social media seems to have trickled into the Bucks locker room too.
But, as Portis says, the rumors are off for now, at least in that Giannis cannot be moved off the team until the summer. That being said, he and the team are well aware of the fact that the rumors will start up again then.
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