{"id":1921783,"date":"2026-05-06T22:53:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1921783"},"modified":"2026-05-06T22:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:53:29","slug":"bucks-owner-on-giannis-antetokounmpos-future-with-team-he-may-or-may-not-be-with-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1921783","title":{"rendered":"Bucks owner on Giannis Antetokounmpo\u2019s future with team: \u2018He may or may not be with us\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MILWAUKEE \u2014 The Milwaukee Bucks introduced Taylor Jenkins as their 19th head coach Wednesday afternoon. Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam quickly made it clear they felt they were able to get exactly who they wanted to take over after Doc Rivers stepped away following the season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew who we wanted to hire as our coach,\u201d Haslam said in his opening statement at the Milwaukee Art Museum. \u201cand it was Taylor Jenkins.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But while Haslam and general manager Jon Horst made it clear they identified Jenkins as their top head-coaching candidate, they also admitted the team\u2019s future with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo remains unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, Giannis has brought Milwaukee its second championship and the first in 50 years,\u201d Haslam told reporters. \u201cHe\u2019s a phenomenal player. He\u2019s a phenomenal person. He\u2019s arguably one of the best basketball players in the world, and we will do what\u2019s best for Giannis and what\u2019s best for the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether Giannis will stay with us or not, but we\u2019ll work through that with Giannis in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Later in the news conference, Haslam referenced the NBA Draft, being roughly six weeks away (June 23), as a general timeline in figuring out when the organization should have clarity on Antetokounmpo\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think before the draft is a natural time,\u201d Haslam said during a smaller scrum<\/a> after the news conference. \u201cBecause if Giannis does play somewhere else, we oughta get a lot of assets, and that\u2019s Jon\u2019s job to do it. If he\u2019s here, then you build the team differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horst on Wednesday admitted that Antetokounmpo did not meet with Jenkins before the team hired him as head coach. That was not the case for former head coaches like Mike Budenholzer and Adrian Griffin, who both met with Antetokounmpo and other veteran players before getting hired in Milwaukee and talked about those experiences in their introductory news conferences.<\/p>\n

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Jenkins did inform reporters that Antetokounmpo congratulated him on getting hired, and they have regularly communicated since he was hired, picking up on the relationship they built in Jenkins\u2019 one season (2018-19) as an assistant coach in Milwaukee. However, the fact that Antetokounmpo was not as involved in the hiring process this time around speaks to the strained nature of his relationship with the organization at the moment, as well as the decision the organization needs to make about trading him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a big one,\u201d Haslam said of the decision. \u201cYou gotta get it right. Jon knows it, and Wes knows it, and we didn\u2019t hold back with Taylor. We just said, \u2018Listen, he may or may not be with us, so don\u2019t come because of that.\u2019 Because you wanna be straight up with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo has been with the Bucks since the team drafted him with the 15th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. In his 13 seasons in Milwaukee, the 10-time All-Star has climbed the franchise\u2019s lists in most categories and leads the team in games played, points, rebounds, assists and blocks.<\/p>\n

Despite receiving a word of warning regarding Antetokounmpo\u2019s future in Milwaukee, Jenkins still decided to become the team\u2019s next head coach. He explained that had a lot to do with the team\u2019s outreach, including the trip that Horst, Haslam and co-owner Wes Edens made to Memphis to pursue him as the franchise\u2019s next head coach.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Giannis<\/p>\n
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\n Giannis Antetokounmpo Q&A as Bucks\u2019 frustrating season ends: \u2018We were very bad\u2019\n <\/div>\n
\n One question about his future stands out among the rest: Does Antetokounmpo feel he has played his last game as a member of the Bucks?\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cIt was pretty easy for me: It\u2019s people,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the most important things to me in my life, professionally and personally. Obviously, I\u2019ve known Jon for many years now, so I have high regard and respect for him. As I got to spend time with Jimmy and Wes, intimately in our home, it became very clear these are individuals I want to partner with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m obviously very familiar with many other members of the Bucks organization in the front office, on the medical and performance side, throughout the entire staff, basketball operations. So, when this opportunity became available, I was like, I know the people. I know what they stand for. I know what their standards are going to be on a day-to-day basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Bucks gave Antetokounmpo previous opportunities to meet with prospective coaches before hiring them, Horst reiterated that the Bucks didn\u2019t feel that was necessary this time because of their confidence in Jenkins\u2019 ability to lead the team moving forward.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery situation is different,\u201d Horst said. \u201cFor us, it\u2019s really important; this is about building the culture, the identity of the team. \u2026 It was clear to us who we needed to hire, to have as a partner with our organization going forward, to build sustainable success for years to come in Milwaukee and this situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t about Giannis or not Giannis (or) none of the players. \u2026 This was about hiring Taylor Jenkins. We had a list. It was a tight list of candidates. We vetted it, and our first step of our process was (to) engage Taylor; let\u2019s see where that goes. It ended up with us hiring him, and that\u2019s where we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his first stint as an NBA head coach, Jenkins took the Grizzlies from a 33-win team to one that made the playoffs in four of his six seasons, including a 56-win season for 2021-22. The Grizzlies won their first playoff series since 2015 in that season, as well. In those six seasons combined, Memphis was regularly one of the NBA\u2019s best defensive teams \u2014 and it also was relentless on the offensive glass, even if they weren\u2019t the most talented on that end.<\/p>\n

While Jenkins complimented the depth of Milwaukee\u2019s roster on Wednesday, he also made it clear that his No. 1 goal as head coach would be to get the team to compete at the highest possible level on a nightly basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all striving for consistency on a day-to-day basis,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cMy three pillars are going to be pretty easy. I think these guys may have already heard it; I\u2019m gonna regurgitate it. I told them they\u2019re gonna probably roll their eyes at some point, but it\u2019s \u2018Compete. Together. Get better.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to overcomplicate this, so, from day one, it\u2019s how are we gonna be the most competitive team in all areas of what we do, not just on the court, but also off the court? How together are we going to be on the court? Yes, that\u2019s our play style, the unselfishness you guys are gonna have to have offensively and defensively, but also what we\u2019re going to do in our lives, beyond basketball, to develop that togetherness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, while those things will be important to the success of the next iteration of the Bucks \u2014 and Jenkins can begin implementing those principles right now \u2014 the biggest question surrounding the organization will continue to be Antetokounmpo\u2019s future in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MILWAUKEE \u2014 The Milwaukee Bucks introduced Taylor Jenkins as their 19th head coach Wednesday afternoon. Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam quickly made it clear they felt they were able to get exactly who they wanted to take over after Doc Rivers stepped away following the season. \u201cWe knew who we wanted to hire as our coach,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1921783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1921783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1921783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1921783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1921783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}