"If In Six, Seven Months, I Change My Mind I Think That’s Human Too, You’re Allowed To Make Any Decision You Want" - Giannis Continues To Torture His Own Fanbase When It Comes To His Future In Milwaukee

John Fisher. Getty Images.

Given the NBA season is less than 2 weeks away, it should surprise absolutely nobody that we're once again doing the will he/won't he bullshit with Giannis when it comes to his future as a member of the Bucks. This is actually something that picked back up again during their Media Day last week when Giannis wasn't exactly shy about calling bullshit when the owner of the team said the two had some sort of secret meeting where Giannis committed to the Bucks long term

When that went down, my initial take was a little different than what you were seeing around the NBA world. While some peopel took that as Giannis potentially asking out, I looked at it as a normal step in the Giannis process. Every single time we'd had a similar situation in past seasons and Giannis does stuff like that, it's not about him leaving. It's about making sure the ownership group and the front office understand that they cannot get complacent. We saw it when they then immediately traded for Jrue Holiday, we saw it again when they traded for Dame etc. That's his blueprint for lighting a fire under their asses, and that's how I took that quote at Media Day.

As we know, then came the Shams report

which then led to ESPN doing what ESPN does when it comes to this topic

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"There has been an expectation for quite some time that Giannis' days in Milwaukee one way or another are numbered. Whether that was gonna happen this year, whether it's gonna happen potentially during this season, or whether it could happen next summer."

On some level, while I don't particularly care for them or their basketball team, I do feel bad for Bucks fans through all this. It has to be exhausting to be on what has to be at least Year 5 of this bullshit. You'd think once Giannis won a title it would have ended, but nope. So that has to be annoying.

But at the same time, Giannis continues to feed into all this. He continuously adds fuel to the fire, just like he did today

“I’ve said this many times, I want to be in a situation that I can win and now I’m here. I believe in this team. I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go and it’s definitely going to be hard…Now, if in six, seven months, I change my mind I think that’s human too, you’re allowed to make any decision you want, but I’m locked in. I’m locked in to this team.”

Is Giannis wrong with that quote? No. A lot can happen in the NBA over the course of 6 or 7 months. Things move fast. What might look to be true in October might not be true come April. 

What I will say is that this quote felt a little different than what I described above at Media Day, where it was about lighting a fire under the front office. Given their roster and pick situation, it's not like the Bucks can make a major move at the deadline. To me, this felt more like Giannis saying he's committed at the moment and focused on this team, but if the Bucks stink again this year, that's no longer going to be a guarantee. 

Would you blame anyone who may think this sounds like laying some early groundwork for a potential departure? It's not like the Bucks roster as it stands doesn't have some serious questions. It's not crazy to think it might be a tough season with an early playoff exit, depending on how things shake out. 

I guess my point is, coming off that report and all the drama surrounding it, couldn't Giannis just left that part out? Say you believe in your teammates, say you're locked in on the team and the season and end it at that. Adding in this whole 

"welllllllllll you know in 6 or 7 months I could change my mind and ask out"

is the very definition of adding fuel to the fire for no reason whatsoever, unless there was some truth to it.

I'd say the good news for Bucks fans is there are not a ton of teams who are even able to trade for Giannis during the season. Between having the assets, money available, it's basically the Spurs. OKC already said they're out. Now things will change once we get to the summer, but I would say don't even worry about that yet. If the Bucks have a good season, maybe finally get out of the first round for the first time since their title, perhaps that's all Giannis needs to see. 

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It's still a tough way to begin your season though as a fan. It's one thing if you have to deal with the usual ESPN bullshit, but it;s another when Giannis is also doing his part to add to the frenzy.

Good luck!