A new era for the Milwaukee Bucks era starts on Thursday when they officially kick off their season against the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be the first time Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard take the court as teammates for a regular-season game, and it’s no surprise that the entire basketball world has been eagerly anticipating this moment.
Giannis and Lillard sat down with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report ahead of their highly-anticipated debut. During the interview, Antetokounmpo dropped a bombshell about how he sees Lillard being the leader of the Bucks.
“I’m about sacrifice, I’m about putting the work in,” Giannis said. “I believe in him. Basically, I might be here but this is his team. It doesn’t matter what people say, ‘Giannis, this is his team, like, he got to lead us.’ Because at the end of the day, for him to feel successful, he got to feel very comfortable.”
This is huge coming from the same man who is widely considered the cornerstone superstar of the Bucks. The fact that they just signed him to a massive $186 million, three-year extension is a clear testament to this fact.
For Giannis to concede the leadership role to Lillard speaks volumes of just how unselfish the former back-to-back MVP is. It doesn’t seem like ego will be an issue for him as Antetokounmpo puts winning above everything else.
As they always say, however, things are much easier said than done.
You have to note that Giannis has not played with a superstar of Lillard’s caliber in the past. Since his rise as Milwaukee’s cornerstone, Antetokounmpo has never had to step back and let somebody else take over his team.
There’s no denying that Giannis has the right mindset here, but we'll have to wait and see if things play out that way on the court.
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