Antetokounmpo took it with a reporter: “So Jordan failed in the years he didn’t win a championship?”

Disappointed for him elimination of the Bucks by the Heat in the first round of the playoffs he was John Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak bristled when asked (by Eric Nehm of the Athletic) if he would call the season a failure, replying that in sports there are no failures, only steps to reach the goal. At the same time, the 28-year-old ace he appeared to be “emptying” his coach, Mike Budenholzer, for dealing with Jimmy Butler, stressing that he himself would have liked to have marked him more. In detail, Giannis talked about:

-the atmosphere in the team after the elimination: “Everyone is in shock. We like to win and we didn’t. We have winning players, high level, who have achieved a lot. For me it is the worst post season. It’s hard to handle, but I think Miami was playing to beat us and we were playing to win the championship. I do not understand it. We were running ahead! But it’s basketball. They deserve congratulations, they beat us, two years ago we eliminated them with a broom. We should use this as motivation to come back better next year. We have a very good group of players and people. Everyone worked really hard and it was a pleasure to come to training. We didn’t make it, but they are my teammates, I support them in everything and I hope they support me too.”

-if the season is a failure: “You asked me the same thing last year. Do you get a promotion every year at your job? No! So every year your job is a failure? Every year you work to get a promotion, to take care of your family, etc. I don’t want to make it personal. There are always steps to success. Jordan played 15 years and won 6 championships. Were the other 9 failures? That’s what you’re telling me! The question is wrong! There is no such thing as failure in sports! There are good days and bad days, some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not. Sometimes someone else will win. We will try to come back in the new season, play better and not have ten days of bad basketball. So from 1971 until 2021 when we won the championship we had 50 years of failure? No, it wasn’t a failure. We won a championship, we want to win another.”

“Michael Jordan played 15 years, won 6 championships. The other 9 years were a failure?”

-Giannis’ passionate response to if he considers the Bucks’ season a failure pic.twitter.com/G5VtwnGXYq

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 27, 2023

– the failure of: “The ball didn’t go in, it’s as simple as that. I couldn’t make those shots, if I did it would have been different. I followed the same routine for shots, but missed. Some days you get along, some days you don’t.”

-whether he thinks his team treated Butler the way they should have: “We didn’t make enough adjustments on Butler. Jrue did his best, but he got tired. He had to press on defense, get rebounds, bring the ball down… We had to try other things. As a team I don’t think we made the right adjustments or made the necessary adjustments to win.”

-whether he would like to mark Butler more himself: “Yes. But out of respect you have to let the coach make the adjustments. We had our best defender on him and he wanted to take on the challenge. However, I wish I could mark him more.”

-how much the back injury affected him: “Does not matter. We lost, the streak is over, it doesn’t matter.”

-the collapse in the fourth twelve minutes in the last two matches: “We missed a lot of shots, the momentum changed, they made difficult baskets. Butler hit big shots, we have to give him credit for that. We went 3-4 minutes without scoring and gave them the confidence to turn the game around. They took advantage of it, didn’t give up and won.”

-how he will react after this ending: “Doing what we did as kids. We’ll go back to training, we’ll think about it all summer. Others try to escape their minds. I remember it, I don’t want to find myself in such a situation again and if I do, I will manage it better. I will work, I have to get better, help my team more and I hope in the new season to be better for my team.”

-Middleton’s future: “We won a championship with this kid. We played so many games together, we won, we lost, he has been by my side for almost ten years. It’s good to go out and fight with him, because he never gives up. I don’t know exactly what the situation is, I try to keep my distance from it. He should do what is best for him and his family. I would certainly like to have him as a teammate for another ten years, with the goal of winning another championship, but the decision is his.”