Every NBA team has talented players, yet there is always one who stands out amongst the rest as the team's best. For the Milwaukee Bucks, the public's perception is that Giannis Antetokounmpo is their best player and “the guy” who the team needs to succeed. From Khris Middleton's perception, though, the Bucks don't have a clear-cut No. 1 option, especially since he and Giannis need one another in order for their team to live up to expectations.

Middleton has been an essential part of this franchise for quite some time now and without Khris, the Bucks may not have won their recent championship in 2021. While he may not have all the accolades and awards Antetokounmpo has, Middleton is a three-time All-Star in his own right and he's stepped up plenty of times in games for his team.

Recently appearing on JJ Redick's “The Old Man & the Three” podcast, Middleton talked about his relationship with Giannis and he explained why the two stars don't bat heads over who is the No. 1 and No. 2 option on the team.

“There’s never been a struggle about who is 1 and 2 between us,” Middleton told Redick. “As we got older, there was a respect that was formed and bonded between those intense practices. Then as time goes on, we realized none of this matters once we got into the games. We had our battles in practice, now our job is to go out and win. So, whoever is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, that doesn’t matter.

“As long as we win, everything is taken care of itself, everybody gets paid, everybody is happy, and everybody gets to go wherever they wanna go. That’s just the way we learned.”

Antetokounmpo is clearly the superior talent on the Bucks' roster given his abilities on both ends of the floor. However, Milwaukee has been a special team through the years because of all the players they have that can impact winning. Middleton can hit big shots late in a game, Jrue Holiday can step up defensively for this team and the Bucks have a ton of other secondary pieces who have led the group to a win either in the regular season or playoffs.

As far as who “the guy” is in Milwaukee, Middleton explained that he's at peace with the idea of not filling this role as long as the team is finding success.

“Everybody wants to be ‘The Guy,’ but sometimes it’s okay not being the guy, like I have no problem not being the guy,” Middleton said. “Some nights are going to be my night, he (Giannis) has no problem with that, and I know a lot of nights are going to be his night. As long as we win I’m happy I’m good… If you realize you wanna win, you have to sacrifice something. So, I think we’ve all had this mindset that at some point we have to sacrifice something within our game, within ourselves to be on a winning team and luckily it happened organically with us.”

The Bucks finished the 2022-23 season with a 58-24 record, the best in the NBA during the regular season. Unfortunately for them, they did not find any playoff success, as Milwaukee lost in five games during their first-round series against the Miami Heat. Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton were banged up in this series, but they do appear to be ready to go for training camp in a few weeks.

Looking to avenge their playoff disappointment from a season ago and potentially make it back to the NBA Finals, the Bucks will begin the 2023-24 season at home on October 26 against Joel Embiid, the league's reigning MVP, and the Philadelphia 76ers.