Giannis Admits He Should've Shut Down Bucks Trade Rumors Earlier in New Video After Doc Rivers' Exit

In the wake of the Milwaukee Bucks' season ending and Doc Rivers stepping down as head coach, Giannis Antetokounmpo opened up about his role in not quieting down the trade speculation that hovered over the team for most of the year.

Appearing on the Gogi's Garage YouTube show (starts at 31:00 mark), Antetokounmpo admitted he could have "come out and shut it down" when discussing the persistent rumors about his future:

"I was locked in, but this was the first time in my NBA career that it was everywhere. I think if I had ever been in that position, if I could change something, maybe I'd come out and shut it down, because I think people wasn't listening to me. Like, everyone was saying, 'Giannis, come out, ask for a trade. Giannis, come out and do this. Giannis.' I'm like, first of all, people that I respect — people that I love — I would have conversations with them. My coach, my GM. ... But I kept saying, like, guys, I'm here. I'm not going nowhere. ... Two weeks later, I'm here, guys. I'm locked in. I got hurt, but I'm coming back to play here. ... They wasn't listening to what I was saying. So, if I could turn time back, I would maybe come out a little bit earlier and say, 'Hey, guys, this ends today. Look at me in the eyes. I'm staying with Milwaukee until further notice. It ends today. Stop making stories, and after stories, and after stories."

The trade rumblings about Antetokounmpo have been swirling since last offseason.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported in October that Antetokounmpo identified the New York Knicks as the lone team he would approve a trade to after his reps did due diligence throughout the summer.

Charania added the Knicks did call Milwaukee in an attempt to discuss a trade, but those talks never gained traction.

As the Bucks season started to go south, Charania reported on Jan. 28 that Antetokounmpo was "ready for a new home" and the Bucks were "more open than ever" to hearing offers for the two-time MVP.

There's no indication that the Bucks were close to trading Antetokounmpo prior to the Feb. 5 deadline. When the deadline passed, Antetokounmpo indicated in a post on X that he would "attract" people to the Bucks going forward.

A lot of the messaging from Antetokounmpo throughout this whole saga has been hard to figure out.

Things got even more confusing when he publicly called out the organization for not letting him play amid his recovery from a calf injury, which also resulted in an NBA investigation into the situation under the player participation policy.

After finishing 32-50 this season with no clear path to title contention on the horizon, it seems like this summer will restart the Antetokounmpo trade talks, especially since more teams can get involved than were able to during the season.

Antetokounmpo played a career-low 36 games this season. He averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest.