It was previously revealed that the Milwaukee Bucks kept Giannis Antetokounmpo in the dark as they negotiated the blockbuster trade for Damian Lillard. Giannis himself also admitted that he did not know about the deal up until the news was made public.
One major reason behind the team’s decision to keep the deal hidden from their cornerstone superstar was because they knew how close he was to Jrue Holiday — something that Giannis himself acknowledged.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Spills on Exact Moment He Learned About Milwaukee Bucks’ Blockbuster Trade
In a recent interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Giannis said that he understands why the front office kept him in the dark because “Jrue Holiday is my guy.” This is exactly why Antetokounmpo found out about the landscape-shifting deal the same time we all did.
“I was lifting weights (at the practice facility) with the strength and conditioning coach (Suki Hobson), and Suki said, ‘Oh!’ (as she looked at the news on her phone). And I said, ‘What’s going on?’ And then she showed me,” Giannis said.
It was a bittersweet moment for the Bucks talisman. He had demanded that the team surround him with enough weapons to compete for another title, and the addition of Damian Lillard was aimed at this exact objective. However, losing a guy like Jrue Holiday was an undeniably tough pill to swallow for Anteotokounmpo.
Giannis Does Not Want to Be Involved
According to Giannis, this is exactly why he prefers not to be involved in these business decisions. In fact, the former back-to-back MVP even went out of his way to tell the front office to leave him out in these types of conversations:
“I’ve said many times that I don’t want to be aware of things that affect people’s lives,” Antetokounmpo said. “At the end of the day, if you trade somebody it affects his life, or if you fire somebody, it affects his life. For me, I cannot be a part of that. And I want to stay away. From the early years, 2016, 2017, with the first conversations, (Bucks officials would) say, ‘Giannis, what do you think about this?’ (He’d say), ‘Guys, I’m going to take a step back in this. What I want to know is that we always have a chance to win. I trust you guys, and you guys are going to do that. And I think [general manager Jon Horst] has done a great job doing that for years now.”
Regardless of his lack of involvement, however, you can be sure that the Bucks still hold Giannis’ opinion in very high regard.
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