Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo thought Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade was 'fake news'

Yesterday at 03:25 AM

When news of the bombshell Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks broke, many believed that Shams Charania of ESPN was hacked, with the perpetrator simply looking to mislead millions. After all, it was hard to believe that the Mavericks would give up on Doncic, a true superstar who led them to the NBA Finals last season at the age of 25, and trade him to the Lakers, of all teams, without drumming up what would have been the craziest bidding war in NBA trade history. Even Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t believe it was real.

Speaking to reporters after the Bucks’ 132-119 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night, Antetokounmpo expressed his disbelief over the stupefying trade between the Lakers and the Mavericks — even going as far as to think it was “fake news”.

“I thought it was fake news. It’s insane,” Antetokounmpo said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “This is the world we’re living in. It’s a business, you have to understand nobody’s safe, nobody’s safe.”

It’s unreal how much Doncic has already accomplished with the Mavericks, and he’s only approaching the prime years of his career. He has made it to the All-NBA First Team five times, and he is simply one of the most dominant players the league has ever seen, passing both the eye test with his wizardry as well as the box score aspect by stuffing the stat sheet as much as he does.

This is simply a sobering reminder for the Bucks star that he cannot take anything for granted, as things can change in the NBA in the blink of an eye.

“At the end of the day, I’ve said this in the past, you get evaluated every single day. You don’t take nothing for granted. Being an All-Star, you don’t take it for granted, Being able to go out there and put the jersey on and represent your team, you don’t take that for granted,” Antetokounmpo added.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo waxes poetic on team-player dynamic in the NBA

It still hasn’t been sinking in for some that the Mavericks really did trade away their (former) face of the franchise. This has only served to remind Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo of how cruel the NBA can be as a business and how players must be cut more slack if they decide to prioritize themselves and their personal goals.

“I understand the business of basketball, that sometimes teams need to make the best moves that are good for their organization and for their position and for their own pursuit of greatness and championships. But at the same time, it goes both ways. You cannot have a double standard here,” Antetokounmpo said.

“When the teams make the best moves for them and they believe they can get another player to win now. When a player believes that he can go to a different team and he believes he can have a chance to win a championship, we cannot crucify the person and say that he’s not loyal and he didn’t do the right thing and he let everybody down. Because history has shown you, you have to do what is best for you and your family. You have to do what’s best/most important to win.”

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