Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Speaks After NBA All-Star Game, Damian Lillard’s MVP Performance

Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Speaks After NBA All-Star Game, Damian Lillard’s MVP Performance

Jim first question here on the left in the front hey yes how you doing Jim I’m good um we’ll start with Dame I mean he had a Saturday night that you watched um and then tonight to to start the way he did so I guess just overall thoughts on

Him winning MVP but then also half court a couple times it was uh incredible I think he stayed hot from uh the Saturday night uh event that he had uh you can you can tell he was going for it all we had to do as a team was give him the ball and

He just did what he does best you know make a lot of thre how many he made like 10 11 11 uh he totally deserve it all we had to do is just play hard try to get a win for him Eric on the right side um you’ve

Been in this game a bunch of times with guys that do stuff like that hit deep threes uh what does it mean that that guy your teammate and you get to have the second third of this or the final third of the season with him yeah it’s

It’s incredible you know uh he was shooting a couple shots and uh they were going in and then you could see like the reaction of everybody of like KD Steph they were right there cat y kids they’re all looking like and I was like damn that’s my teammate right there you know

Like you know I’m happy I’m happy that he’s uh on my side and I’m happy that he’s uh what he’s capable of doing on the court we just got you know stay healthy keep enjoying the game keep on getting together getting closer and um build good habits as a team in the last

26 games that we have and uh hopefully we when it matters the most we can play with some age he can make tough shots like that and um I can do the rest you know try to help him win um but it’s to answer your question it’s it’s nice to

To have him on our side right here in the front right here James Wood the athletic Tyrese Alberton having that All-Star game here in his like Hometown for his team as a small Market guy yourself or someone who embraced that franchise in Milwaukee what is that pressure like to try to lift that

Franchise into like the next stage and to be a championship franchise small market I’ll probably say you know I don’t know if I I I felt it maybe I did felt it a couple time but I don’t think I felt that I had to lift

And put walking in the map I was just playing hard doing what I love being consistent with it um staying you know staying humble through the whole my whole journey and I want always wanted to get better and I think by you know doing that step by step uh was able

To uh people around the world know where Milwaukee is and uh people talking about Milwaukee and we being able to have won a championship and the last couple of years we’ve been um always competing for for the championship you know um obviously it takes takes a lot of uh

Hard work a lot of time uh but at the end of the day like I it wasn’t like my mindset going being in Milwaukee I wasn’t thinking ever it was small Market team small City I got to put them in the map I got to raise the whole thing I got

To you know um no I always was I got to get better I got to represent him the right way when I’m put on that Jersey you know I got to represent the people and respect the people before me and hopefully I can make my mark and uh by

Having that mindset I think I’ve been able to do it uh do I believe T tyes will be able to make incredible Market Indiana is’s already making it uh and the future is bright for him the future is bright for the city of Indiana and I

Um I’m excited for him he he was incredible tonight fifth row on the right uh over here uh Yiannis you we talked about yesterday how you were kind of feeling drained from all just all the upheaval from the first half of the Season just what is this me weekend

Meant to you to kind of be able to recharge and then the next few days off before you guys play Minnesota um yeah I’m I’m happy I’m happy that um I can get few few days you know down days with my family and getting my mind right getting my body right you know

Getting in the in the gym working on and getting ready for the game uh um I think as a team we we all needed that uh the last couple of games that we played in the before the break you could see that wasn’t only tired physically we were

Tired because we play like two we played two back to backs in a row we play like four games five days or four games in six days or something I don’t remember but you know it’s it’s it’s tiring you know like our shoot arounds um it’s

Practice like we have to get we have to like get closer as as a team we it’s almost like we got to catch up you know you know usually when the season start you start from training camp you put the first rules the game plan the structure

And you keep on adding slowly slowly slowly slowly we don’t we don’t have that luxury anymore you know so every shoot around instead of just shooting around and you know messing around and getting ready for the game we’re actually practicing you know so now we are physically a little bit more tired

Than the other team then now we are adding things we are adding more things that we than other team so um again I feel like our team I personally and I team our team I think we needed this uh little break five seven days and hopefully we can get back be fresh and

Uh go win some games third row on your right um from Sac South Africa in a recent documentary you go out in the streets in Nigeria yes and you buy a Jersey the guy selling it to you doesn’t know your face but knows the name yes I see what’s

Happening today and what your name does for the city yes in Africa Nigeria or any City what do you think your name can do for those cities I be honest with you I I have no idea you know uh it’s a it’s a funny and

A crazy story at the same time and I really don’t expect everybody to know who I am um um or know my name and I’m not aiming for that I’m actually aiming for the opposite to kind of stay as low profile as I can um but

Yeah crazy crazy story that was my first time in Nigeria going to the street of uh Legos trying to buy yanis Jersey going through the market I was in the in the spring van and I told I told my M if I see my jersey I’m going to stop and

I’m going to go buy it I don’t care if people mob me I don’t care I want I want the Jersey Jersey I’ve never bought my jersey before so I was like that’s the great opportunity to do it and uh you know when I I saw my jersey came down

People were following me I went to the guy I did my you know I used to sell stuff also I bargain you know he told me it was like I don’t remember it was like $5 I was like two and a half uh he said no five I’m like three

And a half you know he had no idea who I was but um then I gave him five and I said I i w the Yiannis Jersey he was like yeah gave it to me and he turned his back walk the other way you probably watch the clip

Then my mom told him hey do you know who that is that’s that’s y theuma that’s actually the guy then he realized but it’s it’s funny I I want to be I want to be down there more uh I enjoy my time down there I enjoy you know meeting my

Relatives for the first time I enjoy touching the people I think uh in my few days there I I impacted a lot of people a lot of communities and I want to keep on doing their good stuff there with my Foundation um so yeah I don’t know if that answer your

Question yeah that’s pretty much standing here on the left law hey Yannis law Mary at the athletic uh I’ve been asking a lot of coaches a lot of players about defending threes uh before like 603s were made in this past game just now 6 was made more 60 or uh more than

That between both teams both teams yeah so a lot of a lot of people they’ve sided how your Milwaukee Bucks defense they used to give up a lot of Threes but be one of the better defenses in the league uh as a player who’s one Defensive Player of the Year and has had

To look and lead a team defense like what’s your philosophy on defending threes besides you know just hope guys miss basically yeah you cannot hope guys uh miss anymore uh the the players are too too good the guys are making shots from half court do you guys saw what

Happened today uh last uh allar game on one before that uh in Cleveland I think Steph was doing exactly the same like you cannot everybody can shoot the ball even the guys that they’re not as good of three-point shooter they can still shoot the ball so you cannot just hope

They miss you got to you got to you know make it more tough for them contest it uh as I as My Philosophy is kind of run them of the three you know um I think that’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of years try to make them shoot a tough two

You know um no layups protect the paint we have a great um defense player candidate player in our team Brook Lopez um send you know send the as many people as you can to the paint uh but for No Easy layups and whenever guy the GU is

You know in the three-point line wide open you got to fly out to him and make him put the ball on the floor if he’s going to take a dribble dribble dribble three you know the chance of that going in is it’s um better and um if you if

You allow him and you force him to take a tough two from the free throw line or a floater which a lot of people want to shoot that floater these days you know it counts it counts for two so um I feel like that’s has been our philosophy the

Last couple of years obviously we are involving we try to get better uh we still even if we have that’s our game plan we still going to allow a lot of teams to shoot threes because this play basketball they play basketball we play basketball you cannot you know you

Cannot guard everything but uh in order for you to be a good defensive team you got to make the other team shoot a lot of twos a lot of tough tws a lot of fadeaways a lot of floorers take final two in the center here in the front and

Then standing on the right hey yanis this is Nate Atkins with the indie star uh right right down here in front oh sorry yeah I saw you had a moment in pregame with your son where you lifted him up so you could dunk the basketball

Uh just what what does it matter mean to you to have your family around in a weekend like this and how these moments kind of help build that family for you um it’s fun man um at the end of the day we don’t we don’t get as much time as we

Probably wanted want to get with our family uh because of a profession um you know obviously our our our program is very very busy uh and whenever I can like you know spend some time with my kids and um kind of make them understand what I do

And I try to take it I I uh mostly the in the past I think I don’t kind of kept my kids out of the you know kind of Spotlight to allow them to choose this life for themselves and not this life choose them you know whenever they the

They can understand and they want to jump into the spotlight great but I wanted that to be their decision but I feel like that kind of um created a disconnect between me and my my my kids like when I was in the on the basketball court I you know kind

Of stayed away but now I’m like this is who we are we are a family I want to raise my my kids to be great great men I want them to understand what I do uh I want them to have fun I want them to see

That their dad is having fun also they enjoy basketball so now I cannot keep them away from the basketball court whenever they see a basketball court they want to run and play um so I’m excited I’m excited to be a father I’m excited to see what the future hold for

My kids and um I hope I can um be a good father last one standing on your right hi Anis uh I think it’s gone a little bit under the radar a little bit uh but I feel it’s one of the best sneaker stories that have been told in a really

Really long time talking about uh the freak fives that you that you wore as as a tribute to tasis uh I want to use this time to maybe give you the platform to talk about that story the decision making into putting that shoe uh and you

Know just what that that means to you to be able to honor your brother um on on a big stage like this um I’ll say I’ve said this many times if you could like you know create a perfect uh brother uh thanasis will probably be be that person like he always like look

After us to care of us being supportive of us and he’s always been there for not just me for all of our our brothers um back in the day my brother thanasis most of you guys know him he went viral with the Sham God

Move you know um the T TW sham God SP Le um he he basically he was sharing shoes with me and he showed he shared um the Kobe I don’t remember what number Kobe 5 Kobe 6 something like that it was the same color way like the one I

Wore today was white and uh red and and I love them and um whenever he played he’ll take them off then he give it you know give it to me and allowed me to play so we used to like share our our shoes and then in 201 19 in uh

Charlotte I got exactly those shoes and I wrote on the shoes thanks to n for sharing and I kind of paid tribute to him for um you know sharing the shoes with me 10 years ago he never said I’m going to be allar or you know I’m going

To be in the position that I am today he was just doing because he loved me so I love I love him too so I wanted to pay kind of respect for him and um you know when I work with you know companies or I work with Nike specifically I want my my

Shoes anything that comes out there to have a story to be authentic to me something that people can relate to you I feel like I don’t want to say put out the stories about a shoe about something that that I don’t know what’s what’s popular right now give me something

That’s popular right now I don’t know uh FIFA you just put a shoe out there no I want my shoes all of my shoes that you have ever released have a story which most of the stories includes my family because that’s what I’m about everybody

That knows me I’m about my family and um today was the opportunity you know to wear them again with a zoom free F and I and I did you know so I hope he’s uh he’s proud I hope he watch the game and I hope uh you know how many I got how

Many points I got 20 today I got 20 I got I got them from him so yeah that’s it

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters after the NBA All-Star Game, including his thoughts on Damian Lillard’s MVP performance.

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