Appearing on Complex’s ‘Load Management’ podcast, Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett believes Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo will stick it out in Milwaukee.
It seems like Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future is on the tip of everyone’s tongue in and around NBA circles.
In the face of the Milwaukee Bucks‘ latest and greatest playoff disappointment in recent memory, the Greek superstar and back-to-back MVP is coming at a crossroads in his playing career a year out from free agency, and with a $200 million-plus supermax extension soon to be on the table awaiting his signature.
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Very few players have been in Antetokounmpo’s position and circumstances, but one of the rare few is Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.
Appearing on a recent episode of the Load Management over on Complex, Garnett touched on a multitude of topic around the NBA, including Antetokounmpo’s future and the Bucks’ disastrous playoff collapse to the Miami Heat.
On the latter, Garnett assessed the wreckage of the Bucks’ Eastern Conference Semi-finals series defeat to the Heat:
"“The playoffs are about adjusting. The Bucks have to make some damn coaching adjustments. They still came out playing the same way (as the regular season). I get it, but you still have to make one or two adjustments and those adjustments have to be impactful to the point where it changes the series. Miami ran it. They just stepped up their level.Giannis is the type of the player where it’s easy to get up for. If you can’t get up to play Giannis, you don’t need to come out here because you’ll have to be up to play Giannis. Giannis’ numbers are going to be at another level, so the fact that the Heat are engaged as a team, they didn’t give him nothing. They know where he’s at all times. They’re putting two or three bodies on him, so you, as the Bucks, have to make adjustments…And after this, I don’t think you fire (Budenholzer). I think you add pieces to Giannis. First, you lock in Giannis. That’s the first and major priority. But this loss follows everybody.”"
When pressed with the follow-up of whether Antetokounmpo would explore a move elsewhere if he were to elect free agency, Garnett explained why he believes the 25-year-old Antetokounmpo would stick it out in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future:
"“He does need more help, but he can get help right there where he’s at. The East is going to be different next year, You got KD and KD’s taken two years off. I don’t know if y’all remember John Wall, but he’s also had two years off. The East is going to be different next year. I’m expecting it to be very different next year…I don’t see Giannis leaving. I think Giannis is comfortable with being in a small market. He won’t want those responsibilities of being in a big market. I know social media is going to play a part in that, but he’s a very firm, very stubborn kid. To the point where he can do another three years in Milwaukee and see if it works. I don’t know if that’s the smartest, but he’s bull-headed enough to make a stand and stay with that franchise and go through it until he sees different. I don’t see him leaving.”"
Garnett providing insights into Antetokounpo’s mentality and overall mindset is certainly interesting on multiple levels.
After all, following his retirement from the league exactly four years ago Wednesday, Garnett served as a consultant for Bucks head coach Jason Kidd and his staff from the start of the 2016-17 season until Kidd was fired in late January of 2018. The 2016-17 campaign was the very year where Antetokounmpo was named the league’s Most Improved Player, earned All-NBA second team honors and was named to that year’s All-Defensive second team.
Following Garnett’s first appearance at a Bucks practice in December of 2016, Antetokounmpo spoke of the respect he had of Garnett and the way he carried himself over his prestigious 21-year NBA career to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"“I’ve talked to a lot of people, a lot of legends, but two of the guys that I really relate to, and I could see the fire in their eyes, were Kobe (Bryant) and KG,” Antetokounmpo said.“He said the ‘warrior mentality’ at least 200 times. I went there again and I was talking with Khris, and KG again said it 100 more times. He said without it you can’t be great in this league.”"
There’s no question that Antetokounmpo still retains that fire and “warrior mentality”, even as his star has ascended and he’s now become the reigning, two-time MVP and he certainly shares that with Garnett being a force of nature in his own right. Add in the fact that Garnett knows what it’s like to be a superstar in a small market like he was with the Minnesota Timberwolves and it’s safe to say he’s been in Antetokounmpo’s shoes before.
It should come as no surprise that a former NBA player wants to see Antetokounmpo see it out in Milwaukee and not take the so-called easy route and joining a superpower team through free agency as is thrown at superstars who have made such moves. But considering the history between the two MVPs and Garnett’s insights may foreshadow the next steps in Antetokounmpo’s playing career.