Giannis Antetokounmpo signed the massive extension he deserved on Monday to the tune of three years, $186 million with the Milwaukee Bucks.
While it was highly anticipated, many were unsure it would come to fruition. Now that it’s official, the two-time MVP can just concentrate on his job and ignore the outside noise.
“I knew in my heart that I wanted to stay,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN’s Jamal Collier Tuesday. “I don’t want people when we lose a game to come back and say, ‘Oh, Giannis is being irritated, he doesn’t like what’s going on, this, that, he’s going to leave, blah, blah, blah.’ No. The conversation right now is going to be straight basketball.”
Giannis also said the extension helps the entire team.
“It was very helpful,” he said. “I didn’t have to think about it. And I don’t think it’s just helpful to me, it’s helpful to the team too. They don’t want to hear about, ‘Oh, Giannis is leaving. Giannis is staying’ the whole year.”
Bucks fans were obviously elated with the news that they’d have their guy for the foreseeable future.
Heading into the season, the Bucks hired Adrian Griffin as head coach. and he immediately made sure he and Giannis were on the same page. Their main goal is to win.
Despite Giannis saying this whole situation could have presented itself as a distraction, Griffin disagreed.
“Giannis is not a distraction, he’s the best player in the world and I never looked at it as that,” Griffin told ESPN. “It’s a part of the business, but we’re fortunate, very fortunate that he decided to sign that extension.
“He signed his extension yesterday and then he was the last person to leave today in the gym. It just tells you how special he is.”
Special indeed.
[ESPN]
