When you think of the most untradable players in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo has to be high on the list. That’s why it’s hard to really read too much into what he said about being traded recently.
A quote shared by Antetokounmpo that was published in a story from The Athletic’s Sam Amick on Wednesday received attention. Antetokounmpo was illustrating the point of how much the NBA is a win-now business. He said that everyone’s job is at stake in the cut-throat business, including his own.
“If we don’t win this year, would you get fired?” Antetokounmpo asks a co-worker, according to Amick’s story. “Do you have it in the back of your mind, like, ‘(What) if this year doesn’t go well?’ Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded. Yeah, this is the job we live. This is the world we’re living in. It’s everybody.”
That quote from the story was copied, pasted and shared by many aggregators, who all suggested Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee future might be in doubt.
Giannis Antetokounmpo thinks he might be traded if the Bucks don’t win the championship
“Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded. This is the job we live. This is the world we’re living in. It’s everybody. At any given moment, if you don’t succeed, that might be… pic.twitter.com/UxvvF3praP
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 16, 2024
Antetokounmpo is making $48.8 million this season and will begin a 3-year, $175 million extension after that. So it doesn’t seem as if the 29-year-old is going anywhere, nor would it seem as if the Bucks would want to move him. It doesn’t even seem like Antetokounmpo wants to go anywhere. His point is more about the pressure to win and perform, and how it’s felt by everyone in the organization, including himself.
