By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Before a losing effort for the Milwaukee Bucks versus the Toronto Raptors, 111-105, in Fiserv Forum, Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed recent trade rumors and his injury.
The Greek Freak once again downplayed the constant speculation about a possible departure from the Wisconsin franchise, rejecting any individual involvement in potential talks.
“If my agent is talking to the Bucks about it, he is his own person. He can have any conversation he wants about it. At the end of the day, I don’t work for my agent, my agent works for me. And there’s going to be conversations that are going to be made between him and the Bucks, and him and his other players, and him and other teams and other GMs, executives around the league. It’s something that you can’t control. But, at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks. I’m still locked in, locked in on my teammates,” underlined the 31-year-old point forward during a media session on Thursday.
“As a leader, but most importantly as a winner, you just gotta be there for them first,” he continued on these rumors impacting the team and his teammates. “Right now again, I’m just focused on getting back healthy on the court, focusing on how I can encourage my team to be the best version of themselves. After that, focus on how I can go out there and help them win games and get out of this hole that we’ve dug ourselves in, and then everything else comes after that.”
Moreover, he rejected reports about calling a related meeting with other Bucks players or the lack of one, stressing that it is completely unnecessary.
“I’m never going to have a meeting with my teammates and sit everybody down and talk about like, hey guys, hey, if we don’t win, I’m gonna get out of here. Like, c’mon. We’re grown-ass men. That’s not gonna happen. They’re grown, too. I think they understand the deal,” he said.
“You just gotta give urgency to the team. Like, guys, this is like serious. Who are we trying to be? We gotta turn this around. We have time to turn this around. And you gotta have a little bit more urgency,” continued the Athens native.
“I think I’ve had the conversation with the coach about it, I think I’ve had the conversation with individual players about it. I’ve been approached by teammates and asked about the rumors because it may also affect their own life and their own careers. I’m straight with them, whatever that answer might be,” he added.
Giannis also talked about the impact on his family.
“I’m in my house with my kids and all that, and I’m opening the TV, and it’s like, “Oh, Giannis is going to the Memphis Grizzlies!” Or, “Giannis is going to the Detroit Pistons!” Which, hey man, I’m not going to lie, I’m the hottest chick in the game right now,” he said, smiling.
Denying yet another outside interpretation on intending to leave the Bucks, he explained why he recently erased large chunks of personal social media history.
“What does it mean, deleting the Bucks stuff from the social media platform? What does that mean? I’m not going to show up to work? I don’t understand. People give so much attention to that,” he mentioned. “I wanted to be more private moving forward, as much as I can. I want to be a little bit more private. That’s how I protect my family.”
Nevertheless, Giannis seems confident persisting rumors about his future will continue disrupting his career.
“Do I hope it ends? For sure. Do I think it’s going to end? No. I think when people see cracks, they see an opportunity to get in through those cracks. And I understand it. It’s part of the game. It’s part of winning. You’ve got to make the right moves to create the best chance for your organization to compete and win a championship. So I get it,” he said.
Currently on the injury list due to a right calf strain, he remains out indefinitely.
“Maybe it was a mistake of mine coming back a little bit earlier, because once I come back, now you’re overcompensating,” he confessed.
“The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time,” he described the setback. “Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus. But it’s part of the game. I’m good now. I feel good. I’ve been working. I’ve been running. I just can’t wait. I don’t know when they’re going to clear me, but I can’t wait to get back out there and play basketball.”
“Look, if it were Game 7, I’ll play,” he added. “I would have no choice, but again, you just gotta be smarter. I just turned 31 three days after the incident. I’m not old, but at the end of the day, you just gotta be smarter with things like that. Like I’ve never had in my career, two soft tissue injuries in this span. I’ve had one, but in such a short span, never in my career.”
The Raptors later forced his side to 11-17 in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season. Besides his absence due to injury, his brothers Thanasis and Alex ranged from staying on the bench to an assignment with G League affiliate Wisconsin Herd.
For the team coached by Serbian Darko Rajakovic, Austrian Jakob Poeltl was a late scratch due to back issues, officially labeled as lower back injury management. European action was limited to Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili, starting and lasting 36:25 with 18 points on 8/12 field goals, seven rebounds, two assists, and one steal.