Giannis Antetokounmpo Opens up About the Bucks Trading Jrue Holiday

The Milwaukee Bucks superstar recently shared his feelings about the team trading away their core championship piece from 2021.

Giannis Antetokounmpo recently stated how it was not easy letting go of Jrue Holiday when the Milwaukee Bucks made the move for Damian Lillard prior to training camp.

"We traded Jrue Holiday; I won't say I didn't like it because Damian Lillard is now my teammate and with him we're going to win the championship, but my best friend leaving, who was living two minutes away from me is tough," expressed Antetokounmpo on Cosmote TV, per Eurohoops.net. "We won the championship and we cried together."

The Bucks turnover and full change of personnel, prominently highlighted by Holiday's departure, has been one of the most famous storylines of this NBA season.

Milwaukee has gone from fourth in defensive rating last season to 17th to begin the second half of this season. Bucks General Manager Jon Horst openly admitted along the lines of the franchise's worst-case scenario developing after acquiring Lillard, in their biggest East foe in the Boston Celtics trading for Holiday.

Holiday averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in the 2021 postseason, accentuating the Bucks to their championship. The two-time All-Star had a historic alley-oop that traveled the length of the court to Antetokounmpo in the final moments of Game 5 in Phoenix. That capped off a 27-point, 13-assist, and four-rebound performance for Holiday, while shooting 60 percent from the field and 50 from three.

Milwaukee is 3-7 under Doc Rivers. There is a significant chance the Bucks' struggles and defensive hole could be further highlighted during the season's second half, as the playoffs arise heading into spring.

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