When faced with the choice to go wherever he wanted, Giannis Antetokounmpo chose to stay put in the franchise that drafted him.
In the time since then, he has brought the team a Championship and secured them as an Eastern Conference force for the next several years.
Still, despite the prosperity in Milwaukee, they remain an afterthought in comparison to big market teams like the Lakers, Warriors, and Nets.
In a sit-down with Malika Andrewson on NBA Today, he acknowledged that truth on camera.
“Nobody cares about us. You know we play in Milwaukee. Small market team, not a lot of attention. We just go out there and do our job and we’re all about winning, we’re about taking care of our families. We’re about enjoying the game and whatever it takes.”
Small-market franchises have been playing at a disadvantage since the very beginning. They don’t have as many fans, don’t make as much money, and often get ignored by the media in favor of juicier and wider-reaching teams.
Somehow, the Bucks lucked out with Giannis, who is one of the few truly loyal stars in today’s game.
“I want to play 20 years,” Antetokounmpo said. “Hopefully, I can play all 20 of those years with the Bucks.
“But we’ll see, I can’t predict the future, but that (pointing to the list), that’s a compliment. Being (No.) 24 and I just turned 27. That’s all my hard work that has paid off. But I gotta — we just lost — I gotta keep going. I gotta keep improving as a player. I gotta keep enjoying the game. Gotta stay in the moment, live in the moment and where it’s going to end up when I’m done with it and I’m done with the league and out of the league, who knows.”
After capturing a Championship last season, it remains to be seen what comes next for Giannis’ crew. They are still competitive and will make a hard push to repeat, but getting out of the East will prove to be more challenging than ever.
Regardless, Giannis gives them an edge over the competition and it’d be unwise to count the Bucks out of the title race.
