Milwaukee Bucks Forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo has been with the team since 2019 and is essential to the fabric of the Bucks’ culture.
Antetokounmpo plays an essential role in the Bucks, not only serving as a high-energy player but also having the closest relationship to 2X MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Thanasis serves as a guy who hypes Giannis up in big moments, calms him down in pressure-filled moments, and is the first guy Giannis talks to when explaining something about what is happening in the game.
Thanasis hasn’t seen much action in his time with the Bucks, only seeing action in blowout games, and when former Head Coach Mike Budenholzer would give the Big 3 a rest.
Before re-signing with the Bucks on July 28, Antetokounmpo revealed he almost left Milwaukee for this surprising team.
Milwaukee Bucks F Thanasis Antetokounmpo contemplated leaving Milwaukee for this team.
Milwaukee Bucks F Thanasis Antetokounmpo spoke with Donatas Urbonas about how close he is to leaving Milwaukee for the New York Knicks.
“Close Giannis is my brother, and obviously, I love Milwaukee. I love Milwaukee. But at the same time, I want to play. You always want to play and feel important.”
“And at the same time, you want like… It’s just because how I am as a player. That would be different if I were in Europe and any other team. But now it became a little bit more like, oh okay he’s on the team because. But I was like: you know what? No. why would I do this.”
Ultimately, I sat down with new coach [Adrian Griffin]. During free agency, I was off in Greece. But I sat down with the new coach and talked with him. He said he appreciates the way I play, he values my game. You know every coach has a different opinion of everybody. But when I picked teams, hearing the coach and everything… I thought this was the place for me.”
“And obviously the Milwaukee fanbase has been… You don’t know how much I love the Bucks, their fanbase and how the city has embraced my family for so many years. So it was kind of a no-brainer.”
“But at the same time, I’m an athlete, and you want to feel important. You want to feel a part of the team. And sometimes there are other where they provide you with an opportunity just show us what you got.”
The Milwaukee Bucks have kept Thanasis on the roster largely because he’s related to Giannis. The Bucks will do anything to appease their franchise player by keeping Thanasis and his younger brother Alex playing for the Milwaukee Bucks G-League affiliate Wisconsin Herd. Understandably, Thanasis doesn’t want to spend most of the season parked on the bench and not see any action.
Thanasis probably just wanted to get out of Giannis’ shadow and not deal with the unfair criticism that he’s only on the roster because he’s Giannis’s brother.
Thanasis is a talented player who can jump out of the gym and play hard-nosed defense. Sure being related to Giannis helps, but that’s not the only reason he occupies a roster spot on the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s on the Milwaukee Bucks while he doesn’t have Giannis’ skillset, he brings energy and toughness and can posterize any 10-15 man at a moment’s notice.
Bucks Nation is glad to have Thanasis back on the team this upcoming season because the New York Knicks would not have given him the playing time he desires. Head Coach Tom Thibodeau has been known to keep his rotations short, and he would see less action in New York than he does for Milwaukee.
Let’s hope Thanasis and Giannis play out the rest of their careers in Milwaukee.
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