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Many NBA superstars always feel the need to label a new season as “championship or bust.” After all, the name of the game is to win at the highest level possible. For Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the pressure of winning their second title since 2021 continues to weigh heavily, especially with Damian Lillard joining the team last season.
Unfortunately, the 2023-24 season was a complete disaster from start to finish for the Bucks. Doc Rivers replaced first-year head coach Adrian Griffin before the All-Star break, and Milwaukee was eliminated from postseason contention in the first round for the second consecutive season. There is no more room for mistakes from Giannis' point of view, as now is the time for the Bucks to stake their claim as the best team in the league once again.
If Milwaukee comes up short of their ultimate title aspirations once again, things could look a lot different for this franchise moving forward.
“If we don’t win this year, would you get fired?” Antetokounmpo joked with a Bucks staff member during an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic. “Do you have it in the back of your mind, like, ‘(What) if this year doesn’t go well?’ Yeah, if we don’t win a championship, I might get traded. Yeah, this is the job we live. This is the world we’re living in. It’s everybody.”
Of course, Antetokounmpo was joking during this interview, but why exactly would he phrase his question and answer like this? Could Antetokounmpo actually be thinking about his future in Milwaukee coming to an end if things don't work out?
The bottom line is that the 2024-25 season presents a lot of pressure for the Bucks. This organization is supposedly to reside at the top of the Eastern Conference, with Giannis being in his prime and after trading for Lillard, yet the team's struggles have outweighed their success. Along with the Boston Celtics surpassing the Bucks and claiming the most recent championship, now the Bucks are being viewed as the fourth-best team by many entering the new season, with the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers being ranked ahead of them.
Receiving attention doesn't matter all that much to the Bucks, as they know what they are capable of achieving. But the failure to live up to expectations set and being in the championship picture is beginning to present some internal fractures this organization has. More specifically, Antetokounmpo may be strongly thinking about his future based on how the upcoming season goes. At the same time, Giannis understands this is a business, and winning is all that matters.
“On a serious note, this is the job,” Antetokounmpo continued. “It’s the profession that we’re in. At any given moment, if you don’t succeed, that might be it for us. It was the same way with the previous coaching staff, and the year before, the players before. … If you don’t do a good enough job, you’re out.”
The only thing that eases tensions rising for a franchise is winning. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are in a position to contend for and win another title, which is their expectation entering the 2024-25 season. Should this not occur, then the questions about what the future holds for the superstar talent and the organization as a whole will only grow louder.
