All season long, the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans have had to deal with national media pundits starting and spreading speculation that the franchise will trade away Giannis Antetokounmpo, the great player in their history. And even though the NBA trade deadline has come and gone (and Giannis still remains on the team), it has done little to stop rumors that he could be traded this summer.
For his part, the two-time NBA has, time and again, expressed his love for and commitment to the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee. Similarly, the organization has stated that they will never trade their ten-time All-Star.
And recently, general manager Jon Horst revealed the way he and the Bucks handle the constant rumors that come from outside their building.
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst addresses the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors
Jan 23, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) walks the ball up court during the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Milwaukee’s general manager recently appeared on a Bucks radio show in what was a rare public interview during the season. During this session, he addressed a variety of topics, notably the constant rumors surrounding his star player.
On these Giannis trade rumors, Horst said:
“We rarely, myself, rarely speak on the topic, and that’s not just something that’s as current as the last cycle of speculation, but really almost for a decade now it’s the same story just retold and repeated year after year.
“And the way we’ve approached it is to be intensely focused on ourselves, the task at hand, which is to build sustainability in our organization and to be successful in our organization both in the short term and long term going forward. And we’ve just been intensely focused on that.”
“We really don’t pay much attention to the media speculation and all the noise. It really truly is just that— it’s outside noise and we focus on the things within our organization that we can control and have an impact on. The results are the results. Sometimes they’re positive, sometimes their negative. But we really worked hard to just focus on things we can impact and control.”
As one can see, the front office considers the rumors nothing more than “outside noise” with no basis in what they see is actually happening within their building. And instead of panicking or reacting, they simply choose to focus on the things that they can control.
Many fans from other NBA bases often call for Giannis or the Bucks to just tell the world what is really going on in terms of these rumors. The problem is, as mentioned, both parties already have: they are committed to each other and building a winner in Milwaukee.
That is just not the answer that other NBA teams and fans want to hear. Nor is it the message that national media members run with. Instead, they chase after clout and clicks by perpetuating rumors that do not come from either Giannis or the Bucks.
And, as Horst says, it is all just noise to be tuned out.
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