Giannis Antetokounmpo not in attendance at media day because of COVID, but addresses talk about his Bucks future

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Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo did not attend the team’s season-opening media day session Monday because he tested positive for COVID, according to Bucks general manager Jon Horst:

Antetokounmpo, 30, is still in Greece, unable to travel since falling ill. He’s expected to be away from the team “for a bit” as Milwaukee begins training camp ahead of a 2025-26 NBA season that will feature a dramatically different Bucks roster than the one Antetokounmpo led into the last two campaigns.

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“I’m just waiting for a negative test, so I can leave my house and get on a plane and travel,” a clearly under-the-weather Antetokounmpo said when he joined the Bucks’ media day stream remotely via Zoom. “I don’t want to put anybody at risk.

“I’m definitely disappointed — bummed out that I’m not able to be there with the team and get this ball rolling. As a leader, I don’t feel good about this, but at the end of the day, this is life.”

The Bucks shocked the NBA-watching world this summer when they waived All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, who’s likely to miss the entire upcoming season after rupturing his left Achilles tendon, using the stretch provision in the league’s collective bargaining agreement to create enough salary cap space to sign center Myles Turner away from the rival Indiana Pacers — who have eliminated Milwaukee in the last two postseasons — in a free-agency stunner.

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The move represented another in a series of significant changes for the Bucks in recent months. Lillard joined franchise mainstays Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton in moving on from Milwaukee, while Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Harris, Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey enter the fold as Horst, head coach Doc Rivers and Co. continue to try to build a championship-contention-caliber roster around Antetokounmpo, the two-time Most Valuable Player who led the Bucks to the 2019 NBA championship.

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Despite all-in moves like the initial trade for Lillard, the Bucks haven’t made it out of the second round since the 2019 title, with myriad ill-timed injuries and top-flight opponents like the Celtics and Pacers preventing them from returning to the ranks of the conference’s elite. By getting younger and bringing in more shooting and athleticism on the perimeter, Milwaukee’s braintrust is hoping to provide Antetokounmpo — who finished third in MVP balloting last season, averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game on 60.1% shooting in yet another remarkable campaign — with the right kind of supporting cast to get the Bucks back within hailing distance of the promised land.

“This team is built to maximize Giannis, but also Giannis can maximize this team,” Horst said Monday.

Antetokounmpo said he feels optimistic about the roster the front office has put together, but also stressed the importance of experiencing more success than the Bucks have managed in recent years.

“I believe in my teammates — that’s pretty much it,” he said. “I believe in the people that are around me. I believe in my teammates. I believe in the moves that they make. We’re young. You know, hopefully we can get on the same page and understand what’s at risk right now. Like, the last three years, I think, we’ve been eliminated in the first round. So there’s not much to talk about.

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“We’ve just got to put our butts down, put our heads down and stay locked in the whole year long and try to win some games and hopefully get into the playoffs, and then don’t get eliminated in the first round. That’s pretty much it, and then we go from there.”

If Giannis or the Bucks stumble in that process, struggling to get back to contention in an injury-ravaged East, expect the resumption of annual rumblings from national pundits about whether Antetokounmpo — who has frequently expressed a desire to remain with the Bucks for the remainder of his career, but who has also said he feels compelled to put himself in position to compete for championships — will start to look for the exit.

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Bucks governor Wes Edens opened media day by insisting Antetokounmpo “made it very clear he is committed to Milwaukee” during a meeting they had in June. Asked about it via Zoom, Antetokounmpo said he couldn’t recall the meeting. He also said that “of course” there was some truth to offseason reports that he’d be open to the possibility of playing elsewhere if he determined that would be his best course of action.

“The same thing I’ve been saying my whole career: I want to be on a team that allows me and gives me a chance to win a championship, you know, and that wants to compete at a high level,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think it’s a disservice to basketball, it’s a disservice to the game to not want to compete at a high level. To want your season to end in April, you know? So it’s pretty much the same.

“It’s not the first time. I had the same thoughts last year. I had the same thoughts two years ago. I had the same thoughts five years ago, 2020. It’s never going to change. I want to be among the best. I want to compete with the best. And I want to win another championship. And that’s it.”

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