Identifying the moment Giannis lost faith in the Milwaukee Bucks

It was a good run while it lasted, but then trust evaporated

Mar 4, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and guard Damian Lillard (0) react after defeating the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Giannis Antetokounmpo preached loyalty to the Milwaukee Bucks for years and backed it up by signing extensions and remaining committed to Milwaukee.

Before the 2025-26 NBA season that all reportedly changed.

But why?

The Bucks were fresh off a first round loss, but that was nothing new. The culmination of three straight first round exits certainly contributed, but there’s a more binary reason that ties together every major Giannis decision.

Giannis has signed two max extensions with the Bucks. Both of those extensions came directly after the Bucks acquired a star guard. 

Jrue Holiday was added in November 2020 and the next month saw Giannis sign up for five more years in Milwaukee. Holiday was then traded for Damian Lillard in September 2023, with Giannis again re-upping with the Bucks within a month for an additional three years.

That chain of star level guard play was broken in 2025. Lillard tearing his Achilles in the 2025 NBA Playoffs meant there was no world where he would suit up for the Bucks the next season. Milwaukee made that official by waiving and stretching his contract to sign Myles Turner.

Turner is a nice fit next to Giannis and a good role player who had just started on a Finals team, but clearly not a star. And while the young guard combination of Kevin Porter Jr and Ryan Rollins stepped up in Lillard’s absence neither of them had the history or ability of an All-Star.

Coupled with the loss of Lillard was the salary dumping of Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma in February 2025. Kuzma has probably been better than Middleton post trade due to the culmination of a series of unfortunate injuries, but that’s almost beside the point. Kuzma is neither a star nor has the kind of history with Giannis that Middleton did.

Apr 5, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Toronto Raptors guard RJ Barrett (9) puts up a shot against Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) and Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (22) in the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Along with Brook Lopez walking in free agency, the Bucks suddenly had themselves a younger team that theoretically fit around Giannis but without either a shared history or the security and stability of a second star.

The downside risk of a team like that was obvious — a system built on one player relies heavily on that player. Giannis missed most of the season with his own series of injuries and the Bucks nosedived accordingly, proving his reported doubt right.

Is there a world where a better coach than Doc Rivers gets more out of the 2025-26 Bucks, and Giannis stays upright, and Milwaukee ends up a plucky playoff team? Definitely. But that’s not this world, and instead of winning him over with a new-look roster the Bucks appear to have lost Giannis’ faith. 

Mar 10, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) talks with head coach Doc Rivers while sitting on the scorers table during the third quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Anything can happen given there’s been no actual trade or official public trade request, but all of the reporting around the NBA makes it clear a Giannis trade is looming. Antetokounmpo is due another extension this October, with Bucks ownership publicly declaring if they feel Antetokounmpo won’t sign they’ve no choice but to trade him.

Unless Bucks GM Jon Horst can pull a third rabbit out of his hat in the eleventh hour and find a new star, it appears this extension deadline will be the one that sees the end of Giannis’ time in Milwaukee. It’s sad the Bucks fell apart around him and Horst failed to replace aging and injured champions. It’s also sad Giannis’ loyalty talk dissipated when the star players and 50-win seasons dried up.

It’s easy to play a whole career with one franchise when you’re Tim Duncan or Steph Curry filling up a hand with championship rings. It’s harder when you’re Dirk Nowitzki climbing to the mountaintop after an arduous journey and not coming close again thereafter. 

All loyalty should be applauded, but one path is harder. Dirk’s Mavericks didn’t win another playoff series after that epic 2011 championship. That’s a path Giannis has reportedly decided he didn’t want to see to the end. 

It’s fully his prerogative and within his rights as a superstar to decide the grass is greener elsewhere. Despite any decisions made this summer, 34 will be high in the Fiserv Forum rafters, with a statue celebrating that 2021 championship in Milwaukee just outside. The fans will come around and celebrate Giannis no matter where he goes if he does get traded, even if it takes some time.

All that said — and it all should be said — it’s still disappointing that Giannis has eschewed the Dirk path after saying loyalty is in his DNA and that legends don’t chase, they attract, and dozens of other similar platitudes. Understandable, given his stated desire to win more championships and the state of the Bucks currently, but still disappointing.

Legends don’t chase. They attract 💯😎 pic.twitter.com/62r1jg93vt

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 5, 2026

Maybe Giannis gets more rings, and more acclaim, and is able to better establish his basketball greatness on his next team. Even with another title won elsewhere, that doesn't change a set of universal truths that clearly have weighed on Giannis as he considered his options over the last year:

If he joins a new team and wins a title there Giannis will never mean as much to that city as he does to Milwaukee, nor will he mean quite as much to Milwaukee as he would’ve if he stayed. 

The Bucks' ineptitude put Giannis in this hard position to choose one path or the other. They’d surely sign up for continuing to try (and probably fail) to contend with Giannis for as long as he’d stay. 

I've stopped making firm predictions on this saga given all the twists and turns and believe genuinely that anything could happen from here. The one element that seems clear, though, is that it would take another star guard attracted to Milwaukee for this Bucks legend not to chase success elsewhere.