MILWAUKEE — Before winning his first NBA championship, Giannis Antetokounmpo, a Milwaukee Bucks star, imagined how this would change his life: how it would be removed from his shoulders and how he would finally be able to exhale.
"But it's fake," Antetokounmpo said after the Bucks won the 2021 championship ring. "If you're a competitor, your mind creates different, different challenges. You might say, 'Well, I did it once and I need to do it again.' When you do this a second time, you want to do it a third time. ”
For a player like Alphabet Brother, there's always a new goal to achieve, and there's always a new slight – real or perceived – to admit.
"We're still with the Milwaukee Bucks. At the end of the day, there are a lot of people who still don't believe we can do it again," he said.
Antetokounmpo, 26, has found his place in basketball legends. Last week, at the beginning of his ninth year in the NBA, he was named to the NBA's list of the greatest 75 players ever made. He has been a two-time MVP. He won the Defensive Player of the Year award. He has been named to the All-Star team five times in a row.
A week after the start of the NBA season, the Bucks (3-1) didn't seem to be bothered by the championship. Not in a team with Alphabet Brother as the best player. The Bucks, who have risen to No. 1 on ESPN's latest strength list, had a dominant season opener victory over the Brooklyn Nets, followed by a win against the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, despite a lack of injured personnel on the left side of the rotation.
Nets star Kevin Durant saw the Bucks different from the playoffs a few months ago to last week's opening night.
"The core members [of them] have been together for four or five years," Durant said. "Then the whole coaching staff became more comfortable with each other and then there was some success in winning the championship, which naturally brought confidence.
"It's good for them all year. I know they're going to use it to squeeze out races – the experience of winning championships and running deep together – that will allow them to win a few races this year. ”
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In the past three seasons, the Bucks have won the most NBA regular season games (162 games), although two of those seasons have ended in huge disappointments — losing 2-0 to the Raptors in the 2019 playoffs and embarrassingly losing to the Raptors. Miami Heat in the Bubble of 2020.
"We definitely have more confidence in ourselves," Bucks forward Chris Middleton said.
"It's natural, we should. We are champions. We've been through a variety of situations you might have experienced. So at the same time, you know what to expect. There's no need to worry about failure because you know what you're going through and need to do. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > Milwaukee's stage is ready for success</h1>
Before the Bucks first trained together in September, Middleton and Antetokounmpo addressed the team on the training ground. Their message: Forget about last season.
Talk about setting the tone.
Giannis Antetokounmpo signed a five-year, $228 million super-salary extension contract with the Bucks in December 2020.
"Our team has great leaders," Milwaukee defender Pat Connaughton said. "They are humble. So we have confidence, but it's not arrogance. I think this line is very important. ”
"That holds a lot of value, and when you have these guys, now the champions... And all of our other players paved the way," said the goalkeeper George Hill, who was with the Bucks 2018 to 2020 before rejoining them this season. "When you have someone like that, it's easy to follow suit."
Middleton and Antetokounmpo will enter their ninth season together in Milwaukee. They were a perfect fit with their third star, Jrue Holiday, who was acquired through a trade before the start of last season. Middleton and Holliday became the first pair of teammates to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year since chicago bulls former superstars Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen won NBA championships and Olympic gold medals in 1992.
After returning from Tokyo, Middleton and Holiday became more closely related.
"Oh yeah, [their relationship], it's grown a lot," Antetokounmpo said on Zoom after the first preseason game. "They're sitting side by side in the dressing room right now. Yes, they went out for dinner. Dating and the like. ”
"Hey, you sound jealous, man. Are you okay? Middleton, who was waiting to join the call next, asked from the background.
"I'm not jealous," Antetokounmpo said with a laugh.
While Milwaukee still maintains a cheerful attitude, the Bucks' worst enemy in the Eastern Conference has gone to war internally.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been locked in a public eye down with disgruntled star Ben Simmons, who has yet to play in the game and wants to see his offseason trade request filled in now.
The Nets, the big hit in preseason betting to win the NBA championship, started the regular season without guard Kyrie Irving, who wouldn't train or play with the team until he complied with New York City's COVID-19 vaccine regulations.
There is no such melodrama in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo dispelled rumours that he might sign a long-term extension before the start of last season. Both Middleton and Holiday have also been locked down for a long time. Coach Mike Budenholzer and general manager Jon Horst were extended this offseason. The Bucks have become the face of the NBA's anti-super team, a small-market team whose best players haven't decided to leave other teams to join the league.
But the road of duplication will remain challenging. The Bucks' offense during the playoffs was below average — 11th out of 16 teams per 100 possessions (despite their defensive first place) — and they needed to find a smoother way to score this season. Holiday and Middleton went straight from the Finals to the Olympics, so their durability will be put to the test after a short offseason.
League-wide, the Nets have all-star players and offensive firepower. The Los Angeles Lakers had their bumps out of the door, but they reloaded their own star experiments. The Heat, who played off the Horns in the playoffs for two consecutive years, won their first game at home against Milwaukee. Young teams such as the Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns now have another year of experience after being sent out by the Bucks in the playoffs last season.
After watching the highlight video on the opening night of the ring ceremony, filled with memories of the young Antetokounmpo and Middleton in their first season, Antetokounmpo pointed out the way they were laid out on the floor, diving for loose balls.
"If we don't change our attitude towards the game, it's going to be very difficult for the players who are there and coach Bard to change the culture of this team," he said.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" > dynasty in the making? </h1>
Before Milwaukee won the championship last summer, the Bucks' scramble road offered far more questions than answers:
• Will Antetokounmpo re-sign with small market Milwaukee?
• Is Middleton the number two person he deserves?
• Did they give up too much for the holidays?
• If they don't win, who will be the next coach?
Right now? Not so many problems.
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"I'm happy," Antetokounmpo said. "I'm not happy because I'm happy, I'm happy because the people around me are happy. I don't feel pressured on people anymore.
"I feel like people are being taken care of and we're going to do that for a long time. You'll see a lot of organizations that can't overcome the difficulties and they disband. This doesn't happen to us. I'm glad we were able to... Be able to do that in the next four, five, ten years, whatever the situation. ”
It sounds like a dynastic talk. Antetokounmpo is not yet willing to go too far beyond himself. Whether real or imagined, that's what Giannis and the Bucks are up against — proving that their victory in the small market, a victory in a year with an entire NBA superstar injured, wasn't a fluke.
Since the Golden State Warriors won the championship in 2015, not a single championship team looks as if it's still on the rise. Consider how the Heat reacted in the 2012-13 regular season after winning last season: 66 wins and a historic 27-game winning streak, and then repeat itself. The NBA hasn't seen a single championship since the Warriors won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, and only three teams — the Warriors, Heat and Lakers — have won titles again since the turn of the century.
"Winning the championship, it's fulfilled a lot of dreams and a lot of hard work," said Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who coached the Bucks from 2014 to 2018, a pivotal development year for Alphabet Brother and Middleton. "A lot of times there's a dynasty — when you see the Bulls, the Spurs, the Warriors. When you talk about Milwaukee winning that championship, Chris and Giannis went to the top with all the effort they put in to finally climb that mountain. It can help you move forward.
"Your appetite is big enough to try again?" That's what great people do. ”