The Milwaukee Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup with their 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night. Unlike other NBA Cup games, the Finals matchup does not count towards regular season win totals or stats. As such, Milwaukee remains at 14-11 and the Thunder, the top seeded team in the Western Conference, remains 20-5.
Despite the fact that it did not technically count for the regular season, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Bucks played the game as if it did. The Greek Freak had a triple-double, notching 26 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists to go with two steals and three blocks. In addition to winning the Cup, he was also named NBA Cup MVP.
ESPN Blatantly Misquoted Giannis After the Milwaukee Bucks Win
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Dec 17, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) shoots against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the 3rd quarter of the Emirates NBA Cup championship game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward
Giannis and many Bucks veterans, especially those that make a lot of money playing the game they love, wanted to win the NBA Cup because of the $500,000 each player on the winning team gets. They did not want the money for themselves, per say. After the game, Giannis revealed he told rookie center Liam Robbins that they were going to win the Cup so that Robbins could buy himself a house in Iowa.
Damian Lillard, when asked before the game about the money, said that “when” he gets it, he plans to use it to do something for the Bucks training and support staff.
And while winning the NBA Cup is a great accomplishment, it is not Milwaukee’s final goal. Also after the game, Giannis told ESPN reports (and everyone watching) that “The job’s not done.”
Of course, he is referring to the Bucks’ ultimate goal of winning another NBA Championship.
That is not, however, what ESPN chose to display on their social media pages:
This is, of course, not only an inaccurate reporting of what Giannis said, but also is a really strange thing to say about a team that, starting on Friday, will play three games in four days.
ESPN Has It Out for the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo
Dec 17, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) blocks Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kenrich Williams (34) during the 4th quarter of the Emirates NBA Cup championship game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada
ESPN has long been a proponent of Giannis leaving the Bucks to go and play in a bigger market. Whenever the team struggles, as they did to start the 2024-25 NBA season, they start to wonder aloud on streams and television about what team the two-time league MVP will demanded to be traded to so that he can win in a bigger market.
“I’m tired of walking into the facility and seeing ‘First Take’ on all of the TV’s, and they’re saying ‘blah, blah, blah.’ I’m tired of it,” Giannis said on a recent episode of “Thanalysis,” a podcast hosted by his brother.
Of what he is used to hearing on ESPN about him, Giannis mocked, “’They suck! Get them out of here! Trade Giannis! He has blood on his hands and nobody wants him! He can’t shoot, he’s a bad teammate. Zero IQ.’
“Guys, yesterday, I was the best player in the world.”
And Shams Charania, ESPN’s senior NBA insider, did not help matters before the game last night. “There will be no Giannis Antetokounmpo trade this season,” he said. And while he admitted that the Bucks will not trade their star this year, he still is trying to leave the door open for him to leave at some point in the near future.
At this points, Bucks fans should just accept that the trade wishes and rumors will continue until he retires.
