Giannis Antetokounmpo
Giannis on a busy summer:
"“It was a really short offseason. I was able to get in the gym, do my job. Obviously, I was tired physically and mentally, because we had a long season and then I had a lot of things to do with Nike, with my family, and with the national team also. But I’m excited. I’m excited for the season. I’m excited to play with my teammates, my new teammates. I’m excited to go out there and compete hard for Milwaukee and for the fans.”"
Giannis on questions about his contract and his future:
"“I talked a little bit about it last year and I said that, you know, I’m not going to talk about it lot. And I thought about it this summer when I was sitting down with Thanasis and my family on the couch watching shows and all that. I feel like if you have a great team, and our goal is to win a championship, and be the last team standing and get better each day, I think it’s disrespectful toward my teammates to be talking about my free agency and what I’m going to do. So when the time is right, we’re all going to talk about it, but I don’t think the time is right right now. Our focus is to get better each day, go out there and compete as hard as we can, and I’m not going to talk about it a lot this season and I’m not going to try to address it.”"
Giannis on what his brother Thanasis can bring to the team:
"“Thanasis is a player who’s going to be ready. I’ve talked with coach a lot about Thanasis, and hey, this guy right here, I trust him. If you tell him to run through a wall, he’s going to run through a wall. And he’s going to get up and say, ‘which other wall do you want me to run through?’ I know he’s going to be ready, I know he’s going to contribute defensively, and obviously offensively he’s going to get better when he learns our gameplan and the flow of our offense. He’s going to knock down shots, and he’s going to get better. He’s going to do the daily vitamins that we all do, and under a great coach, he’s going to learn how to use him and he’s going to use him the right way, and he’s going to help this team.”"
Giannis on the team that’s been constructed around him for this season:
"“It’s great that the whole team is similar, and we kept all the pieces, and we added great pieces that make this team a lot better than last year. What I can think about is that tomorrow training camp starts, and that’s day one. We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to compete. You guys are going to hear me say this all year, and I’ve said this for six years so far. It’s all about getting better each day and taking it day by day. Obviously we know we have the talent to be playing in June, but if we don’t focus about what we’re going to be doing right now, we’re not going to get there. I’m happy that the team is the way it is. I’m happy that we have great guys, and guys that compete hard and have fun, and love each other and like each other, and I know we have a chance over here.”"
Giannis on the World Cup experience with Greece:
"“It was great playing for Greece and representing my country. Obviously, the outcome wasn’t what we expected. We weren’t able to qualify for the top-8, or to the Olympics, but we have another chance to do that. We had a great team, but I think one game cost us the qualification to go to the next round. Am I disappointed from it? I’m not going to say I’m really disappointed. Obviously I’m mad about it, but everything happens for a reason and you try to take the good or bad, the experience, from every competition you play and try to be better. When you’re in that stage again, then you know how to handle it and know what to do. The Greek national team, we’re not done yet. The other thing I’m going to say is I fouled out in three of the five games. You guys are not going to see that with the Bucks. I’m going to try to stay in the game!”"