Sports

I'm Sick of The Giannis Antetokounmpo Drama - Just Ask For a Trade Already

For the past four months, Giannis Antetokounmpo has tried to ask the Milwaukee Bucks for a trade without actually asking for one.

On Thursday, teammate Myles Turner let it slip on his own podcast that Antetokounmpo was routinely late to team activities, including boarding the plane or bus to get to the next city.

After that clip began circulating online and going viral, Antetokounmpo posted a passive-aggressive story on his social media titled “Another day getting better and minding our business,” which prompted even more drama.

I’m done.

What are we doing here?

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The Bucks front office has already said that if Antetokounmpo doesn’t sign an extension this summer, heading into free agency next offseason, he’s gone, and they’ll find a new home for their former MVP.

This has to be the most melodramatic trade saga of all time, and this is from someone who watched Kobe Bryant try to escape the Los Angeles Lakers approximately 405 times following Shaquille O’Neal’s exit to Miami.

We’re in this new age of sports, where players want to keep their image sparkling clean and have droves of assistants doing their best to make them likable and relatable at the same time.

For his entire tenure in Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo has nailed that. When he won the championship with the Bucks, he livestreamed the next morning from his car, eating chicken nuggets and embracing the fans.

But now that the Bucks don’t have a team good enough to compete, Antetokounmpo wants cake alongside his nuggets, and to eat it, too. He wants to be a hero to the people of Milwaukee while also going to Boston, Minnesota, or another contending team that can help him compete for titles as he enters the twilight of his career.

There’s nothing wrong with that. Antetokounmpo did all he could in Wisconsin. He helped them win a championship and is ready to move on. Regardless of whether he asks for a trade, he deserves a statue as the franchise’s greatest of all time (sorry, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you’ll always be remembered as a Laker).

Like a relationship that has run its course, it’s OK to break up.

The Bucks should be moving towards a full rebuild. Antetokounmpo should be in a new city, doing his best to stay healthy and help a contender vie for a championship.

Get it over already and do the trade, for everyone’s sake, including mine.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 3:59 PM.

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