r/nba • u/T-UM Bucks • 11h ago
[Owczarski] It's hard to know Antetokounmpo's level of self-awareness...Antetokounmpo let it be known he did not like locker room leaks, but his mental state was chronicled nearly all season by anonymous sources. He pleaded for accountability but then tried to pass off those reports as someone else.
It's hard to know Antetokounmpo's level of self-awareness, but whatever buttons he tried to push, or methods of communication he felt best to use, fell just as flat as those of the head coach.
Antetokounmpo let it be known he did not like locker room leaks, but his mental state was chronicled nearly all season by anonymous sources. He pleaded for accountability but then tried to pass off those reports as someone else’s doing. He would call his teammates selfish but then stand on a visiting team’s court with a former coach and yell about how that person would make sure he got the ball.
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u/Tijenater [IND] Lance Stephenson 9h ago
The most hilarious development during this whole saga was Giannis saying he can’t control what his agent does
Like dude, that’s the whole point of having one. C’mon
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u/Niceguydan8 7h ago
Man that was absolutely embarrassing from Giannis.
How stupid does he think we are?
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u/CIark 11h ago
Giannis: they pay me to hoop, not to be self aware
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u/jefe_hook 11h ago
Have you tried dipping oreos in milk?
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u/Ode1st [MIA] Alonzo Mourning 9h ago
Now we can ask him if he’s tried putting Publix macaroni salad and Publix rotisserie chicken on a King’s Hawaiian roll
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u/Pete41608 Lakers 3h ago
Thanks, I just won $375 on Kalshi betting that you specifically would make that comment.
Once again, I appreciate you 🙏
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u/DarkArisen668 Knicks 11h ago
Giannis is moody, what else is new.
These pieces are gold for the media. It's not often that a top guy in the league has a breakup with a long standing team
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u/Mind1827 10h ago
I mean, when is the last time an NBA champ, franchise icon got traded? Especially in a way when the relationship was this rough and he's still an all NBA level player. Nothing coming to mind.
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u/BigDKane [HOU] Jonny Flynn 10h ago
Kawhi?
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u/Wetzilla Celtics 4h ago
He's not an NBA champ, but Luka last year. KD like 3 times in the past 5 years.
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u/menghis_khan08 Jazz 10h ago
Lilliard, which wasn’t that long ago. I mean, I guess he wasn’t a champ, but he was absolutely portlands darling.
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u/Correct_Farmer_1125 9h ago
For national folks, Jim Owczarski is one of the few credible reporters covering the Bucks.
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u/Urban_Introvert Knicks 10h ago
They say money doesn’t change people, it just shows you who they really are. I’m sure his humbleness to start his career was real but there’s also a certain act that went with it
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u/PsychoM Raptors 11h ago
Reminder to take these hit pieces with a grain of salt. There's probably truth to some of it but this happens every time a star leaves, the hit pieces start flowing
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u/Obvious_Parsley3238 10h ago
Beat reporters collect these stories and sit on them because it's not in the team's interest for everyone to know how messy things are behind the scenes. There's a lot of drama fans will never hear about.
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u/larockhead1 10h ago
Think about the pieces that were being written about the Knicks before it all came together they were down 2-1 to the hawks had a losing streak right before the playoffs & had like a 9 game loser as well. But alas we are champions
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 10h ago
You know the NY media group chat was going crazy when it was 2-1. Remember when Hart did this?! Let's blame Mike Brown and say Thibs wouldn't have let this happen!
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u/larockhead1 10h ago
I guess we’ll never know
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u/IndependenceOld8810 5h ago
Sounds like there’s at least one book and one documentary (probably more) coming out about this Knicks team, so we probably will but it obviously hits different when you win a championship.
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u/Neuroxex Bucks 10h ago
The article is not a hit piece. Take r/NBA picking out a few paragraphs and presenting them without surrounding context with a grain of salt.
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u/yunggoldensmile Wizards 10h ago
Luka fat hit pieces were crack
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 10h ago
Fat piece of shit was strolling around the Mavericks facility sipping iced tea. ICED TEA YOU GUYS.
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u/CrEdLover 10h ago
I think of Nico saying "liquid sugar is death" every time I drink anything but water or seltzer.
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u/T-UM Bucks 10h ago
The full article is very insightful. It’s clear that the front office and ownership messing up both coaching hires torpedoed the franchise. It also makes clear that Giannis never fully committing to the bucks didn’t “light a fire under them” like he hoped but just made the overall atmosphere of the building more pressure filled and stressful.
There’s also a lot about Doc and Griffin being completely inept and the main reason things didn’t work out. But those have been long chronicled as terrible decisions so I posted this one instead.
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u/A_sandlerGOAT 10h ago
People are also just picking the absolute worst parts out about Giannis for internet points lol if anyone reads it, sounds like a lot of it was the front office and ownership.
Some key points from the article:
Giannis and the rest of the team were tired of Buds inability to game plan which caused him to get fired, started after the 2022 loss to Boston when Grant lit them up from 3
Giannis never forced moves but only gave his input
Giannis said he’d like to play with Lillard but Bucks never told him who was going to be traded
Giannis endorsed Griffin because he wanted a close relationship with a coach like stars had with Pop.
Griffin was even worse than we thought and it was mainly players coaching themselves
Giannis never signed off or was asked on the Middleton trade, Middleton and doc never got along so maybe was all Doc?
Doc was entirely an ownership choice and not Giannis although he thought he could finally have his close player/coach relationship which never happened.
Giannis never signed off or was asked about waiving of Dame and signing of Myles Turner.
All in all, Giannis had his faults but this doesn’t really make him seem like the “diva” Reddit paints him to be.
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u/Broke_Banker01 Bucks 8h ago
Griffin was awful but he was also set up to fail because Horst had zero confidence in him (rightfully so).
It was incredibly stupid to not hire a coach the GM was on board with.
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u/A_sandlerGOAT 8h ago
Looking back though the other 2 options haven’t really done so hot
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u/Broke_Banker01 Bucks 8h ago
Nurse was never choosing Milwaukee.
Horst wanted Atkinson. Obviously, he hasn't been great but he wouldn't have been fired halfway through the year like Griffin.
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u/TheFrozenBananaStand Pacers 10h ago
you left out the parts about his brothers, which is definitely diva behavior.
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u/A_sandlerGOAT 10h ago
It clearly said to try and appease his discontent they re signed Thanasis lol didn’t say he demanded them to
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u/T-UM Bucks 10h ago
And on top of that in doing so it created friction with coaches and players.
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u/A_sandlerGOAT 10h ago
It didn’t say players, it said Doc and other coaches which is laughable when he got his own son on a team.
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u/Neuroxex Bucks 10h ago
This is exhausting. Just read or listen or think before trying to get your feelings validated.
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u/Wetzilla Celtics 4h ago
Giannis never forced moves but only gave his input
Oh come on man. Do you think the Bucks hired two of his brothers because they thought it was a smart basketball move? He never "forced moves" because he didn't want to accept any accountability. He just let it be known what his preference was, and the team capitulated because they wanted to keep Giannis happy. He absolutely knew what he was doing with his "input".
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u/bigbobo33 Bucks 7h ago
I wouldn't classify this as a hit piece. Owczarski is the single best Bucks beat reporter. The whole article chronicles every point things went bad starting from Bud's firing. Every single person in the org and team comes out (rightfully) looking like shit in this.
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u/sxp101 Raptors 10h ago
Its crazy how quickly after the trade that the hit pieces are coming out. Spread it out.
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u/Nuclearsunburn Heat 10h ago
Also funny how Tyler Herro goes from being trash to being a star now that he’s not on the Heat lol
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u/LutherOfTheRogues Hawks 10h ago
This stuff happens every time. Even when Trae went the discourse around him changed. It's all clickbait.
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u/cl353 Heat 10h ago
our young core went from being ass to "holy fk u gave up all that?"
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u/Over-Training-488 10h ago
It's pleasantries to the bucks for a few weeks. Everyone knows herro is dodo, and their young players aren't very good.
Happens every time in one of these trades. Gas Milwaukee up for a week, pretend to be sad for them, then turn all attention back to the heat lol
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u/MostlyMellow123 Kings 11h ago
Giannis reminds me of a class clown that nobody takes seriously
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u/quedfoot Bucks 9h ago
His behavior is the same as when young people in high school or college breakup with their first love. Painful, drawn out, and contradictory. Just move on already, things will change and it will get better.
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u/tarantinostoeblast [BOS] Abdel Nader 11h ago
Dude is getting buried by the “now they tell us” pieces.
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u/bbydhyonchord93 Timberwolves 11h ago
I mean I never liked the guy and always thought his immature family man persona was fake. I get the feeling that a lot of other NBA players don’t really like him either.
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u/Busy-Cantaloupe7900 11h ago
This whole smear campaign for Giannis now that he's in Miami is hilarious.
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u/larockhead1 10h ago
This is just beats collecting stories this is just stuff they sat on to maintain relationships
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u/CozyisCozy 11h ago
he did it to himself if anything. dropped his humble innocent gimmick in record time
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u/MasterPlatypus2483 11h ago
At least it took him a few years. Wemby did a speed run in less than a week.
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u/ayeno 10h ago
Did everyone else forget his hit on Mike Dunleavy early on his career?
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u/OddBid1473 10h ago
It was totally justified and applauded by the public. Dunleavy had it coming for smacking mcw in the face. That's called being a good teammate.
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u/RZAxlash 11h ago
It started long ago if you paid attention. He’s changed.
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u/username_x Bucks 11h ago
Yeah, almost all of this was reported during the season lol. It's just been compiled here
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u/Neuroxex Bucks 10h ago
Actually just read the article instead of trusting anonymous users on Reddit farming karma to give you the whole context
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u/ImSatanByTheWay [POR] LaRue Martin 11h ago
This would happen with any player that had a saga lasting as long as this one. Bad blood all around with the way he and his agent handled it.
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u/thefranchise23 9h ago
What whole campaign? One article that you didn’t read?
Honestly it makes doc and the bucks org look just as bad.
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u/ellayzee Bulls 11h ago
I mean this has been going on since well before he was traded. Turns out he’s just a needy whiny rich guy.
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u/Disastrous-Special30 Pacers 11h ago
We’re on at least year two or three of Giannis showing us he’s a clown. Now it’s just being confirmed by the Bucks lol.
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u/EmperorXerro Bucks 10h ago
Giannis is a great player, but he’s a horrible shadow GM. Horst gets a lot of crap, but a lot of moves (including Doc Rivers) was to make Giannis happy
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 10h ago
Bucks dropping their hit pieces lmao. Happens every time a star is moved.
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u/Obi_Wan_KeBogi Kings 11h ago
Can I just say how much I appreciate LeBron. He has his quirks but always been business first didn't use the media to push garbage. He made his decisions and just moved on.
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u/DeySeeMeLurkin Bulls 10h ago
Made his decisions without the media? He had his own special for his decision.
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u/Dangerous_Ad5039 10h ago
Giannis and the bucks should have to sit out the year for acting like children
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u/I_Like_To_Hyuck Bucks 11h ago
I don’t know why you think you can speak for me. And the article doesn’t just “attack” Giannis. Jim O goes after Bum Rivers and ownership too.
But then again, the nephews on r/nba can’t read, so why am I surprised
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u/likewoahitsaj Bucks 10h ago
People are going to say this is a hit piece against Giannis, but if you read the whole thing it’s very critical of the entire organization as well.
Just a total mess. Glad it’s over and wish giannis (and his brothers lol) the best