Giannis Antetokounmpo is in Year 12 with the Milwaukee Bucks.
He’s manifested his loyalty to the team and city countless times. But that never seems to matter.
It annoyed the hell out of us when the national media decided it was time to try to push Giannis out of Milwaukee. It’s evident they all wanted him to play in a bigger market for their benefit.
Giannis was just 22 when the media started narrative-pushing in July 2017. This wasn’t long after he signed a four-year, $100 million extension in September 2016.
Things peaked following the Bucks’ collapse in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals when the infamous Malika Andrews’ calculated postgame article and subsequent press conference video caused Giannis to walk out of the room.
This has become an annual obligatory memory post. Fellow fans remain in agreement on how ridiculous this was.
https://twitter.com/jeremywick/status/1794500353687523580
Bucks fans have endured a great deal of irritation well beyond the last few years of heartbreaking playoff exits. Seemingly infinite trade “rumors” and jersey swaps have plagued Giannis and Bucks Twitter far beyond the other stars that have not won rings (*cough* Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox among others).
Winning is the Only Thing
Everything changes when you win.
The summer of 2021 was one for the ages. They finally did it. It was finally over.
As former Bucks Radio Network Host Ted Davis famously coined, “Wisconsin, we’ve got a room at the top of the world tonight”.
And he was right.
In a post-championship interview with the aforementioned Andrews, a candid Giannis maintained his loyalty to the team and city, even if this was his only ring.
A dismal 2022-24 fueled the fire
We’ll speed through this part, but the previous three seasons left much to be desired. The endless “what-ifs”, playoff pain, if we were healthy— you name it.
While there are plenty of avenues to direct toward why it didn’t go the Bucks’ way since they won, the ultimate fallout is that all of this drove the conversation.
That’s what Giannis’ trade rumors have done for years— drive conversation. Even with next to no validity each time they pop up, they drive a fanbase crazy. And that’s why the rumors return, no matter the credibility.
Giannis will be 30 in December. We are nearing a decade from when the rumors first started.
And until the Bucks start winning regularly again, they’ll be here to stay.
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