Giannis Antetokounmpo will spend the summer of 2023 reeling from the biggest loss of his NBA career after becoming only the 6th team in league history to lose in the first round to the eighth seed as the No. 1 seed.
Journalists were quick to hound Giannis at the press conference, with one asking the Greek Freak if this season was a failure. This led to us seeing a side of Antetokounmpo we haven’t before, as he went off on the journalist in a 2-minute diatribe.
“Oh, my God. You asked me the same question last year, Eric. Do you get a promotion every year on your job? No, right? So every year when you work, it’s a failure? No. Every year you work towards a goal, which is to get a promotion and take care of your family… It’s not a failure, there are steps to success… Michael Jordan played 15 years and won 6 championships. The other 9 years were a failure? That’s what you’re telling me? Exactly, so why ask me that question? It’s the wrong question. There’s no failure in sports. There are good days and bad days, some days you’re able to be successful, and some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. That’s what sports is about, you don’t always win. This year, somebody else is going to win, simple as that… 50 years from 1971 to 2021 when we didn’t win a championship, it was 50 years of failure? No, it was not. It was steps to it. We were able to win one, hopefully, we can win another one. I am sorry, I didn’t mean to get personal.”
“Michael Jordan played 15 years, won 6 championships. The other 9 years were a failure?"
Giannis on the Bucks 2022-2023 season https://t.co/0l69MKazCF
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 27, 2023
Success and failure aren’t as cut and dry as many assume, especially while asking professional sports players about an entire season’s worth of achievements. They failed in their ultimate goal of winning a title but they’ll find a way to derive positives from this season. Giannis was evidently still reeling from the loss and had an emotional reaction, but it is hard to say that this season wasn’t a failure given the underachievement by Milwaukee.
What Is Next For The Franchise?
The Bucks may have to perform a re-tooling of their squad in the summer that they didn’t necessarily anticipate even a week ago. Heads have to roll after a first-round exit, so some key figures in Milwaukee are going to be moving out soon.
Everyone expects coach Mike Budenholzer to be the first domino to fall given his disastrous coaching strategies throughout this series. His execution down the stretch of their Game 5 loss was shockingly bad and could have been one of the primary reasons behind their failure.
Giannis has shown a pattern of holding himself accountable when his team underachieves. He’s likely going to take some time off to get himself in a good mental space again but he will work extremely hard to come back stronger. Free throw shooting needs to be a priority after his 10-23 performance from the line tonight.
Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 23.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in this first-round loss and will be going home before the second round for the first time since the 2018 playoffs.
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