Is Giannis Antetokounmpo Looking Past the Bucks?

Milwaukee Bucks fans are nervous following Giannis Antetokounmpo’s interview with GQ Magazine on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old NBA champion was GQ’s Athlete of the Year in their 2021 Men of the Year issue. Antetokounmpo, who was also the cover story for the issue, told the magazine that he is motivated by challenges and that he may have to start looking beyond the Bucks to find his next one.

 

“I just love challenges. What’s the next challenge? The next challenge might not be here. Me and my family chose to stay in this city that we all love and has taken care of us—for now. In two years, that might change. I’m being totally honest with you,” The MVP said in a long-form interview.

The “Greek Freak” is currently locked in a 5-year contract with the Bucks, signed in December of last year for $228 million. But the star athlete has also made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t see himself bound to any one place.

“I think he’s genuinely like: ‘Okay, I have reached the pinnacle. The next challenge is, let’s repeat.’ But what happens if you do repeat? What’s the next challenge? What is that next barrier? When you think about it from a basketball perspective, by the age of 26, this kid has accomplished everything,” Antetokounmpo’s manager, Alex Saratsis said to GQ. “So sometimes you’re going to have to manufacture what those challenges are.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo opens up to GQ about new child and past trauma

Antetokoumpo spoke with the magazine about the child he recently had with partner Mariah Riddlesprigger, as well as the unbelievable story of his journey from Greek immigrant to NBA superstar.

 

The article also chronicles Antetokounmpo’s blockbuster NBA Championship, where the star took home the trophy for the Bucks and minted himself as a living NBA legend.

Antetokounmpo suffered through a gruesome knee injury in order to deliver the title for the Bucks, who had not won an NBA Championship in 40 years.

The 26-year-old star also said that the pressures of the championship games as well as the lingering grief he felt for his father who died in 2017 had a profound effect on him, but that the birth of his children have helped him deal with the complex emotions:

“I had to break down the barriers I was talking about and be by myself, cry, and realize, ‘I got to fucking help myself,’ ” Antetokounmpo said in an interview with GQ, while holding his newborn child in his arms. “This guy, he’s like, ‘Sometimes, being persistent and stubborn? Sometimes it fucks you up.’ ”