Giannis Antetokounmpo is learning from the Milwaukee Bucks' mistakes over the last two seasons. So much so, that the Greek Freak says he no longer seeks the Bucks to become the best regular-season team. Rather, he wants Milwaukee to play its basketball when it matters the most in the end, (per ESPN's Eric Woodyard).

The reigning NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year is talking about the Bucks' disappointing playoff exits over the past two years. Milwaukee finished with the best record in the NBA on both occasions and appeared like the frontrunners for the Larry O'Brien trophy. In 2019, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, but they crashed and burned at the hands of eventual champions Toronto Raptors.

It was the same scenario inside the bubble at Walt Disney last year, as the Bucks did not even get past the second round and got eliminated by reigning ECF champions Miami Heat in just five games.

While the old Giannis would probably go all-out to get the top spot once more, the 26-year-old forward now doesn't mind having a lower seed as long as his team reaches its full potential. He is taking a page out of LeBron James' book in conserving his energy for a lengthy postseason run.

Giannis is in a similar stage of his career that James found himself in during the late 2000s. Although James' Cavs were a regular season behemoth and he would take home MVP trophies in 2009 and 2010, he would fail to reach the Finals in each of those seasons, after getting swept by the Spurs in 2007.

After signing Giannis to a supermax extension and adding some key pieces in the offseason, the Bucks are once again considered as one of the top dogs in the conference. They currently hold the second seed in the East with a 16-10 slate, trailing the Philadelphia 76ers. But the Bucks star has grown wiser after a couple of earlier than predicted exits and has his sights set for the playoffs already.

Antetokounmpo is definitely doing his part to turn this into reality, averaging 28.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.2 blocks in the Bucks' first 25 games of the season.