The Milwaukee Bucks’ 2021 championship victory feels like decades ago, with the roster now virtually unrecognizable from the one that lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy that year. Giannis Antetokounmpo, now in his 30s, is the sole star on a Bucks team that has huge expectations, which they won’t likely fulfill unless the Greek Freak kicks it up a notch.
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Giannis’ workload heading into the 2025/26 season has been a concern for some time now. He will be coming off an EuroBasket tournament in the summer, and will be the sole “facilitator” in offense, according to Tim Bontemps, who spoke about him in detail in a recent ESPN segment.
The NBA insider feels that the Bucks will be lucky to finish inside the top six, and that is if Giannis plays more than he normally does. They simply do not have a good roster, and without Giannis, they would be a lottery team. Bucks fans may not like what Bontemps had to say further.
“I think they are projected to finish eighth or ninth, by the odds,” Bontemps said. “Their roster is not very good. I mean, it’s massive, they’re putting a massive burden on Giannis to be the sole engine of their team for 82 games.”
The problem, however, is that Giannis likely won’t be playing all the games. Over the last five years, he’s played 61, 67, 63, 73, and 67 games respectively. Milwaukee won’t win all its games with Giannis, so the prospect of playing a dozen games (if not more) without the two-time MVP will be daunting.
“Any game Giannis doesn’t play, they’ve got a bottom five/six roster,” Bontemps continued. The numbers look even more worrisome when taking into account that Giannis hasn’t averaged more than 35 minutes a game in any of the last five seasons.
Tim MacMahon, also on the podcast, added, “He’s gonna need to play, likely more minutes, and harder minutes, and being not just the primary facilitator, but pretty damn close to like the sole facilitator.” The senior writer acknowledged that Giannis may have an MVP-level season once again, but is doubtful whether he can put in the amount of work he has in previous seasons, considering his age.
Well, Giannis’ age has not been a topic of discussion until now. But that’s a point every athlete has to arrive at some point in their career. Giannis remains in top-notch physical condition and was still elite in the 2024/25 season. He started 67 times and averaged 30 points per game.
Hopefully, he returns healthy from his national camp with Greece and continues to carry the Bucks like he has for so long now.
