Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t want to finish his playing career in Milwaukee.
The Bucks star revealed on a Greek talk show this week that he wants to return to the country to play for a team there after his time in the NBA is done, whenever that is.
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“I’m 30 years old, I can play in the NBA until I’m 36-38. I’d like to end my career in a Greek team, why not?” he said on ANT1’s “The 2night Show,” via BasketNews. “I don’t want to live in the United States. As soon as I leave the NBA, I want to return to Greece.
“I could end my career here, whether this team is called Filathlitikos, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, or Aris, I’m talking about all the teams now.”
Antetokounmpo has spent his entire NBA career in Milwaukee, which selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in 2013. He previously played with Filathlitikos before the Bucks drafted him in 2013. The two-time league MVP led the franchise to a championship in 2021, too. He averaged 30.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season, his 12th in the league.
Antetokounmpo has been the subject of trade rumors in recent years, and again this past offseason after the Bucks were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs once again. There was a report the team engaged in trade talks about him with the New York Knicks, but Giannis shut that down. The Bucks also signed his youngest brother, Alex, to a two-way deal on Monday. Three of the five Antetokounmpo brothers are now on the Bucks in a historic first for the league.
“I’ve said this many times, I want to be in a situation that I can win and now I’m here. I believe in this team,” he said earlier this month. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go and it’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day-by-day, but I’m here. … I’m locked into whatever I have in front of me.
“Now, if in six, seven months, I change my mind I think that’s human too. You’re allowed to make any decision you want, but I’m locked in. I’m locked into this team. I’m locked into these guys, to this group and to this coaching staff and to myself.”
Whether Antetokounmpo plays somewhere else in the NBA still remains to be seen. While it won’t happen anytime soon — Antetokounmpo will turn 31 in December, and still has several solid years left in the league — it sounds like he won’t hesitate to spend a bit of time playing in his home country before hanging it up for good.
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