Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals he was 'ready to walk away from the game' in 2020

Antetokounmpo apparently considered leaving the NBA shortly after signing a record $228M contract

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed in a new interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he contemplated retirement during the 2020-21 season and even had conversations with the front office about the possibility. 

Antetokounmpo had signed a five-year, $228 million extension, which at that time was the richest contract in NBA history, a week before the season began and was struggling with the expectations of being the best player in the world. To emphasize the point, he relayed a story about being in a hotel in Orlando and overhearing a grandmother tell her grandchildren all about him. 

From the Journal Sentinel:

"Yeah, it's good to hear that, but that's a lot of pressure. Going through that … in order for you to be the best, you have to play like the best. You have to practice like the best. You got to carry yourself like the best. Which is not easy.

"As much as people say I'm handling it well, because that's my personality…"

"It's hard.

"It's … not easy.

"In 2020, I was … ready to walk away from the game."

Giannis continues talking, but it is now impossible to comprehend anything he's saying.

"I had that conversation – yes – with the front office. I said…"

Here, it's worth considering the context for Antetokounmpo's doubts. In 2019, the Bucks blew a 2-0 lead to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. They came back the next season looking like the best team in the league, but COVID-19 ground everything to a halt. The Bucks, more than perhaps any other team, struggled to cope with the bubble, in large part due to social justice concerns back in Milwaukee; they were bounced in the second round by the Miami Heat. 

A few months later, after an extremely short offseason, they had to get right back to the grind in a strange, COVID-altered world. The mental toll of those years was immense for everyone, and Antetokounmpo had the additional pressure of trying to bounce back from two consecutive humiliating playoff defeats. 

"I'm very stubborn human being," Giannis continues, raising his eyebrows the way he does that sends creases across his forehead.

"If something doesn't make me happy, I don't do it. I don't want to do it. I'm just going to stay home, stay with my kids, stay with my family and try to be happy. I don't care.

"And this was right when I signed the largest contract in NBA history.

"In 2020, I was ready to walk away from the game. I had that conversation – yes – with the front office.

"And, you know, very normally, everybody is looking at me like I was crazy. 'You just signed the largest contract in NBA history and you want to walk away from the game and all that money…?'

"Mannnnn, you can take that money and shove it into your…"

Antetokounmpo, of course did not retire, and while he may have thought about it and even mentioned the idea to the front office, it's a hard to imagine him ever going through with such a plan -- at least not long term. He's too competitive and too driven, as his performance in the 2021 Finals showed, when he led the Bucks to their first title in 50 years.