CHARLOTTE – The Milwaukee Bucks shot around in a small gym in downtown Charlotte prior to their game Wednesday night against the Hornets, and for the most part it was business as usual – save for the absence of franchise legend Khris Middleton.
Middleton, and rookie AJ Johnson, were part of a trade to Washington that would bring back Kyle Kuzma and Patrick Baldwin Jr. (along with some draft considerations). Though the trade was not yet official, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo took a moment to reflect on the news of the day.
It has been reported that Khris Middleton has been traded – can you speak to what he has meant to the Bucks organization?
Giannis Antetokounmpo: “Obviously, I’ve played with Khris for 12 years. I spent incredible moments with him. At the end of the day, things like this, from what they’ve told us, you don’t know if it’s going to go through, so at the end of the day, until it’s official, Khris is like still our teammate. But if the trade goes through, obviously I’m going to miss Khris. Everybody on the team’s going to miss Khris. His leadership. For me, my brotherhood with Khris is the most important thing I’ve had within this team for a lot of years. We’re the oldest guys. Not the oldest guys, but been here together for 12 years. There’s been so many moments together. I’ve been around Khris more than I’ve been around my brothers and my family. I’ve had incredible moments on the court with him. We’re definitely; everybody’s gonna miss him.”
More:Why the Milwaukee Bucks traded Khris Middleton
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How did this news affect you personally, as you two brought a championship to Milwaukee?
Antetokounmpo: “For me, for a lot of people, it can be business because they’ve been around him. For me, it’s a little bit bigger than business, it’s family. With a guy that I’ve won a championship with – it’s not only that I’ve won, I’ve lost a lot of times with him. I’ve been in a dark place a lot of times with him. I’ve been in the bus going to a lot of pressure situations with him. It’s almost like I’ve been to war with him. That’s what I remember. Not only the good times we had, the one good time we had, I remember all the other times that everybody was depending on us. The organization was depending on us. The city was depending on us. Our teammates were depending on us. I remember all those moments. We were able to find a way to make things happen and we find a way to win a championship.
“I know it’s business, but for me, Khris is my brother. I’m going to have a relationship with him after basketball. It kind of hurts, but at the end of the day, I understand the business side of things and I’m still going to show up to work and do my job until it’s my time to dip.”
Have you gotten any better at dealing with trades over the years?
Antetokounmpo: “Uh, yeah, I’ve gotten better. But with Khris, with Khris it doesn’t matter how much you got better dealing with it. It’s Khris. It’s still gonna hurt you. Same as it hurt with Jrue (Holiday). Same as its’s gonna hurt with Brook (Lopez). Same as it’s gonna hurt with Pat (Connaughton). Same as it’s gonna hurt with Bobby (Portis Jr.). Those are my guys. Same as it’s gonna hurt, like, the guys we won a championship with that they’re not here. Most of them I’ve tried to have a relationship with. Like Bryn, Bryn Forbes was one of those guys. I saw him in San Antonio. But it doesn’t matter. As much as you’re able to deal with it, it still hurts. Especially the guys that you’ve won with. They’re like family to you.”
Clearly this decision has been made for a reason, you’re trying to win a title this year and have played some real good basketball at times – how does this make this team better?
Antetokounmpo: “I don’t know. I didn’t make the decision. You gotta ask the decision-maker. I don’t know. But, at the end of the day, you cannot disrespect anybody that comes and joins your team. You gotta be open minded and be a good teammate. But at the end of the day, you gotta ask that made the decision.”
