By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s been enjoying the All-Star Weekend and he had a rather long and meaningful chat with the journalist throughout the media day.
He took a couple of questions a bit more seriously than others and one of those was about his basketball legacy in terms of perhaps being one of the top five players to have ever played the game.
“At the end of the day, you have to run your own race,” Giannis said. “I gotta be the best I can be. Where that’s gonna take me? I don’t know. I don’t look at other greats and say ‘I want that’. I’m always looking at my own potential and how I can fulfill it. At the end of my career, I want to be able to say I gave everything. Wherever that takes me. I hope I’ll be one of the best to ever play but if not, it doesn’t matter. I’m literally obsessed with basketball. At first, I didn’t know it but now I can see I’m obsessed with the game.”
Naturally, he was also asked about whether the Milwaukee Bucks have what it takes to defend the championship and win back-to-back titles.
“I don’t know. Obviously, every single day that goes by, I try to do what I can to be ready and improve my game. Are we gonna win back-to-back? I don’t know, you don’t know, nobody knows. Can’t predict the future but I know one thing. I do everything I can today to be the best player I can be. Hopefully, that puts me in the position to win the back-to-back title.”
But with the All-Star weekend going on, all of that takes a bit of a back seat and fun takes over. Especially after experiencing it multiple times.
“I’ve been in eight (All-Star) weekends. At the start, you’re excited and want to do everything, do all the interviews, shoot extra shots. But then you grow a little bit, get kids, they don’t let you sleep the night before and you realize – I have a long season ahead of me, so I just have to enjoy this weekend as much as possible. Do what makes me happy and keep it going.”
The European players tend to use the chance to spend time together and Giannis has taken a liking to Nikola Jokic.
“He’s a great guy, fun to be around, chill and down to earth. He doesn’t care about all this, he’s just here to do what he’s gotta do and go back to his family. And I gravitate towards that because that’s how I am as a person too.”