Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo divulged Tuesday that being the top player on a team is not of the utmost importance to him.
In an interview with Greek channel COSMOTE TV (h/t Aris Barkas of EuroHoops.net), Giannis said he would have no problem playing with other superstars provided it yields championships
“This is a statement that I have never made before. If LeBron [James] and Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis came to Milwaukee; I would have been good with that. I am not interested if I am the top, second or third name, ok? Because I want to win. … For sure when I was 18 or 19 years old, maybe I didn’t understand what you need to do to win. But right now, I am 25 and I want to win because when I retire, that’s what people will remember. And if I got LeBron, KD, Davis, if all those came, I wouldn’t mind at all. I don’t care if I am the top [player] on the team.”
The Bucks have finished with the NBA’s best record in each of the past two seasons, but playoff success as eluded them, as they fell to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals and were eliminated in the second round of last season’s playoffs by the Miami Heat.
With the Bucks unable to get over the hump, there has been no shortage of speculation that Giannis will play out the final year of his contract in 2020-21 before signing with another team that he believes can give him a better opportunity to win a championship.
The Bucks have clearly made an effort to appease Giannis by acquiring guard Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans, but few would consider him to be a true superstar.
Although Antetokounmpo spoke in terms of being open to superstars joining him in Milwaukee, none of the players he mentioned seems likely to do that. LeBron is entrenched in L.A. after winning a championship last season, Davis is likely to re-sign with the Lakers and Durant is gearing up for his first healthy season with the Brooklyn Nets after missing all of last season because of his Achilles injury.
What Giannis’ comment does suggest is that forming a superteam isn’t something he opposes, which could be a bad thing for the Bucks if they are unable to put one around him.
The current NBA is the era of the superteam, as most of the recent champions have boasted multiple superstars.
The Golden State Warriors won three championships, two of which featured Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Also, LeBron led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a title alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love before doing it with Davis in L.A.
Even the Toronto Raptors had multiple stars, with Kawhi Leonard as the anchor surrounded by fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry and budding superstar Pascal Siakam.
While Holiday and Khris Middleton are quality players, it can be argued that Giannis doesn’t have the second star he needs to go the distance, which has to be a major concern for the Bucks and their fans.
Winning a championship is clearly the No. 1 priority for Antetokounmpo, and he doesn’t sound picky about giving up some of the glory to make it happen.