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Giannis Antetokounmpo admits this season has been the hardest of his career: "Emotionally, and mentally, it's been draining"
A season that began with optimism due to the acquisition of eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard hasn’t gone according to plan. Although the Bucks boast a gaudy 43-24 record—good for second in the Eastern Conference—Giannis Antetokounmpo has admitted experiencing plenty of emotional and mental challenges.
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Giannis spoke about how this season has been the most difficult of his career.
Began with a knee injury
Giannis revealed he began the season feeling unsure of his abilities after undergoing surgery in June 2023 to clean up loose cartilage in his left knee. The procedure kept him from playing for Greece in the FIBA World Cup, and it wasn’t until the second week of training camp that he finally got to play basketball again.
“Yeah, it’s … it’s … it’s hard. I feel like, for me, this has been the hardest season that I’ve played — not only physically, because I had the procedure done on my left knee in the end of June. And I had to get back to myself,” Giannis told Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“I feel like when the season started, I wasn’t (myself). And the reason was that I hadn’t played basketball until like the second week of training (camp). I had to get back to being by myself.”
Personnel changes
While the NBA is a business, players cannot help but form bonds with their teammates. This was especially true for Giannis, who had been playing with the same core group of guys since entering the league in 2013.
However, during the offseason, the organization underwent some major personnel changes. Longtime coach Mike Budenholzer—who led the team to the NBA title in 2021—was fired and replaced by first-time head coach Adrian Griffin, whom Doc Rivers replaced in January. Key players like Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen were also involved in the transaction for Lillard.
All these weighed heavily on Giannis, who had grown close with Budenholzer and his teammates.
“Emotionally, and mentally, it’s been draining. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s been extremely tough, from Coach Bud (Mike Budenholzer) being let go to Coach Griff (Adrian Griffin) coming in, being let go, then (interim) Coach Joe (Prunty) for three games, Coach Doc (Rivers) coming in, and then you have Dame. It’s been tough,” Giannis continued.
Through it all, Giannis continues to maintain an upbeat attitude, recognizing that these challenges are part of what makes the journey more meaningful.
“But at the end of the day, I think when you face adversity in life, that’s when you excel the most. So I’m just trying to, as a leader, as a basketball player, as a person, just trying to do what I do, keep on enjoying the game of basketball, keep on hanging in there, keep on trying to improve my game, doing the right thing. And hopefully, step by step, I get where I want to go and I’m able to help the team get where we want to go.”
