NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo Signs New Contract Extension With Milwaukee Bucks, Hopes To Avoid Distractions in Upcoming Season – News18

Giannis Antetokounmpo wished to verify his contract standing didn’t distract the Milwaukee Bucks as they made a run at one other championship.

That’s one cause the 2-time MVP modified his thoughts and signed a 3-12 months, $186 million extension slightly than ready till subsequent summer time to make his future plans recognized.

Antetokounmpo, 28, defined his resolution Tuesday, sooner or later after asserting on social media he had agreed to the extension.

“I don’t need the media talks to be about my contract and if I’m going to stay, if I’m going to leave,” Antetokounmpo stated. “Because I knew in my heart that I wanted to stay. I don’t want people, when we lose a game to come back and say, ‘Oh, Giannis is being irritated, he doesn’t like what’s going on, this, that, he’s going to leave, blah, blah, blah.’ No. The conversation right now is going to be straight basketball.”

READ: NBA: Nikola Jokic Dominates Out The Gate As Denver Nuggets Sink LA Lakers in Season Opener

Antetokounmpo famous he made the same resolution again in 2020, when he signed his supermax extension a few week earlier than the beginning of the season slightly than pursuing free company the next summer time. The Bucks went on to win their first title in a half-century.

“It was very helpful,” Antetokounmpo recalled. “I didn’t have to think about it. And I don’t think it’s just helpful to me, it’s helpful to the team too. They don’t want to hear about, ‘Oh, Giannis is leaving. Giannis is staying’ the whole year.”

Antetokounmpo’s announcement on the eve of the NBA’s season opener capped an eventful few months for the Bucks and their celebrity.

The Bucks posted the NBA’s finest common-season file final 12 months however misplaced to the Miami Heat in the primary spherical of the playoffs, a outcome that led to the firing of coach Mike Budenholzer and the hiring of Adrian Griffin. Antetokounmpo then stated this summer time he wouldn’t signal an extension this 12 months and wished to see how dedicated the Bucks had been about competing for one more championship.

ICC World Cup: Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets

Milwaukee then acquired seven-time all-NBA guard Damian Lillard — like Antetokounmpo a member of the NBA’s seventy fifth anniversary workforce — from the Portland Trail Blazers. Even after that transfer, Antetokounmpo stated he would wait till the summer time earlier than signing an extension as a result of it didn’t make monetary sense to do it now.

“He’s the best player in the world,” Griffin stated Tuesday. “Having him commit for a few more years is just amazing.”

Antetokounmpo has spent his total profession with the Bucks, who chosen him out of Greece with the fifteenth total choose in the 2013 draft. He gained consecutive MVP awards in 2019 and 2020 and led the 2020-21 Bucks to the franchise’s first championship in a half-century, scoring 50 factors in the title-clinching victory.

He is Milwaukee’s profession chief in factors, assists, blocks, triple-doubles and video games performed.

“I’m extremely happy,” Antetokounmpo stated. “I know the ins and outs of the city. The city shows me a lot of love, and also whenever I go out there and have time with my family, they also give me space, which is crazy to me. When they see me on the street, (they) give me space. They respect who I am as a person and what I’ve done for the city of Milwaukee. And for that, I can’t turn my back. Not now, not in the future, not never.

“And I want to be committed, I want to give back to the city of Milwaukee. We won one championship, but I believe we can win a second.”

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)