By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed his visible frustration and the Milwaukee Bucks’ ongoing struggles, admitting that his late-game technical foul against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, incurred after throwing the ball at the basket stanchion, stemmed from a lack of team cohesion. “I was a little bit frustrated,” he said in a postgame interview. “I feel like when you’re down 11 or 12, you’ve just got to play smart, try to get the best shot possible, be at the right spot. At the end of the day, we all have to be on the same page.”
On the team’s defensive woes and disappointing 11th-place standing in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, Giannis challenged his teammates’ resolve for the final stretch of the season. “It’s your spirit. What you’re playing for,” he remarked. “We’ve got to decide, are we going to wave the white flag, or are we going to come together in the last 21 games and try to play hard and make a push?” The Greek superstar emphasized that the team cannot rely on individual efforts to overcome deficits, noting, “Good teams don’t work that way… you’ve just got to keep on chipping away.”
On a personal level, he spoke about the physical and mental toll of returning from a calf strain that sidelined him for five weeks. Despite showing flashes of his signature power, he admitted he is still finding his rhythm. “I’ve got to give myself some grace,” he confessed. “I tend to think that I’m a machine all the time, but I’m human. It’s going to take some time for me to get in shape.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s matchup against the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum, he labeled it a “must-win”. Through 32 appearances in the 2025-26 Regular Season, the 31-year-old is averaging 27.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.