Giannis Antetokounmpo: ‘I would love to stay’ with Bucks ‘as long as I’m healthy and as long as they want me’

Giannis Antetokounmpo has spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Bucks, but the modern NBA has been defined by player movement. Antetokounmpo may have passed on the 2021 free agency bonanza many expected him to participate in two summers ago, but that doesn’t mean he’s committed to spending his entire career in Wisconsin. In fact, after winning the 2021 championship with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo even hinted that he’d be open to something different later in his career.

“One challenge was to bring a championship here and we did,” he told GQ in November, 2021. “It was very hard, but we did. Very, very hard. I just love challenges. What’s the next challenge? The next challenge might not be here.”

“Me and my family chose to stay in this city that we all love and has taken care of us — for now,” Antetokounmpo said. “In two years, that might change.”

Well, it’s been nearly two years, and Antetokounmpo’s Bucks have the best record in the NBA and just aa good of a chance as any team to win the title this year. He remains committed to the Bucks thanks to the five-year, supermax contract he signed in 2020, however, can become a free agent as soon as 2025 if he so chooses. Fortunately for Bucks fans, it doesn’t sound as though he’s all too eager to find that new challenge. On an appearance on CBS Friday morning, Antetokounmpo hinted that he’s perfectly happy with the Bucks, saying that “as long as I’m healthy and as long as they want me to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks organization I would love to stay there.”

Antetokounmpo is as healthy as he’s ever been, and the Bucks aren’t going to want to get rid of him any time soon, so for the time being, their partnership seems likely to endure. Technically, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks can renew their commitment to one another this offseason, as he will be eligible to extend that supermax contract. While there has been no reporting on his intentions as of yet, it seems hard to imagine that the Bucks wouldn’t at least offer him that extension.

Antetokounmpo is 28. He is perhaps the best basketball player in the world and he currently plays for the best basketball team in the world. He has no obvious reason to consider leaving Milwaukee and, for the time being, it seems like that notion is the furtherest thing from his mind.