The Milwaukee Bucks are just over a month away from kicking off their 2025 NBA season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo still on the roster despite an offseason full of rampant trade speculation. Antetokounmpo has been keeping busy representing his native country of Greece in the EuroBasket tournament, which recently concluded with a Germany win over Turkey.
In order to get to that final game, Turkey defeated Antetokounmpo and Greece in the semi-final round, which then prompted Greece to play in the bronze medal game, where they defeated Finland in a tight contest. In that game, Antetokounmpo scored 30 points to go along with 17 rebounds and six assists.
After the big win, Antetokounmpo took to his Instagram live to celebrate, and threw some shade at Turkey in the process.
“Take the f**king Turkey flag out of here. Take it out of here,” he said, per HoopsHype.
The vitriol could stem from recent comments made by Turkey player and Houston Rockets star Alperen Sengun, who claimed that Antetokounmpo was not an elite passer, which got Bucks fans on social media in their feelings.
Apparently, Antetokounmpo also took the assessment personally.
A strange offseason for Giannis
Immediately after the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers in last year's NBA playoffs, trade speculation began, with fans wondering whether the former league MVP would look to take his talents elsewhere. For a time, it looked like this would turn out to be true, with ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania frequently reporting on teams calling in to check on Antetokounmpo's status with the Bucks.
However, the Bucks' front office has done everything they could have this offseason with their limited pool of resources to keep Antetokounmpo happy, including cutting Damian Lillard and using that extra space to sign Myles Turner in free agency, essentially giving them a younger and more athletic version of what Brook Lopez provided to the team for the past several years.
Still, even with the Eastern Conference weakened by injuries, it's unclear whether all of this will be enough to keep Milwaukee in contention.
The Bucks are set to open up their 2025-26 NBA season on October 22 at home against the Washington Wizards.
