Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has pretty much done it all throughout what has been a decorated NBA career. What he has not done yet, however, is play alongside a top-caliber superstar like Damian Lillard.
This is exactly what’s in store for the Bucks this coming season, which is why it comes as no surprise that questions have been raised regarding the chemistry between these two generational talents.
Who Will Have the Ball More For Milwaukee Bucks?
One matter that has been on the minds of fans everywhere is who will end up taking the last shot for Milwaukee. This is obviously Giannis’ team and this fact won’t be changing anytime soon. However, Lillard is one of the most clutch players this game has ever seen, and this is one of the reasons why the Bucks traded for him in the first place.
For his part, Giannis has already made it abundantly clear that this won’t be an issue for him whatsoever:
“For me, now, I’m 28. I’m not a kid no more,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “You cannot have — obviously, you have to have friendly competition within your team to try to push one another and to be great and be better prepared for the game — but this is not, in no shape or form, any competition between me and him, who’s going to have the ball more. He will have the ball more and I trust, I believe he’s going to find me and not just me, he’s going to find our teammates and put us in the right position.”
Antetokounmpo has no problem deferring to Lillard when the opportunity calls for it. Giannis knows that he’s still going to get his chances, and he won’t stand in the way of Lillard doing his thing:
“And there’s going to be moments in the game that he’s not going to be in the game and, you know, I might have the ball more,” Giannis said. “But at the end of the day, man, like, it’s literally the first time like I’m ‘OK, we have to let Dame be Dame and if that means that me and Khris have to take a step back.’ Not back, but you know, from ball handling. As players, we have to take a step forward.
“But in this specific topic, taking a step back and let Dame be Dame because we know that we’re going to figure out ways to be effective,” Antetokounmpo continued, “We’re going to figure out ways to help this team, but we have to — we don’t have to win, but I want to win so bad and we have a chance to win. And I think we’re gonna do, as a team, what’s necessary for us to win.”
Giannis Wants Dame to Be Dame
As Giannis said, it’s all about winning. They brought Dame in for this exact reason, and now that he’s here, Antetokounmpo says that he’s personally willing to find other ways to impact the game and let Lillard cook on offense:
“Again, it’s a long, long season,” he said. “We haven’t even started. We haven’t even played preseason yet. But at the end of the day, man, I’m saying this publicly, I said this with him: Dame is here to be Dame and we’re going to let Dame be Dame.
“At the end of the day, if that means that we’ve got to play more defense, we gotta get more rebounds, I gotta set 50 screens for Dame to get an open shot, he knows and I know, and I think the team knows, that I’m gonna set those 50 screens. Because at the end of the day, I want to win. And I hope we can put ourselves in a position to win a second championship — (and) a third championship for the city of Milwaukee — with the talent and the people that we have on this team.”
Needless to say, Giannis Antetokounmpo really, really wants that championship. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this objective.
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here!