In his recent appearance on the “Run it back” show, DeMarcus Cousins talked about Giannis Antetokounmpo and why he thinks Giannis might be the next star to either get traded or ask to leave his current team, the Milwaukee Bucks. Cousins made this guess based on some recent comments Giannis made, where he hinted that superstars have the right to make their own choices in the league.
“As his teammate, I learned that there’s always truth in his humor. If the Bucks don’t work out, I could absolutely see him in Chicago,” Cousins said. “It makes sense. It’s great for business. The league is trying to globalize the game, and it all makes sense. It all goes together,” Cousins added.
Cousins believes it’s only a matter of time before this happens
Cousins’ opinion about Giannis’ comments is worth considering since he’s one of the few veterans who has spent time with Giannis in recent years. Even though nothing about Giannis’ future is certain, the four-time All-Star thinks his current situation might eventually push him to leave—especially if things don’t improve.
“If this experiment with Damien Lillard doesn’t go as planned, it’s obvious that he was ready to move from Milwaukee once before. Before they won that championship. So, obviously, he can get to a place where he’s ready to move on.
So if this thing doesn’t work out, I could see that definitely being another situation. Him being in a Chicago-type situation, absolutely. It’s right down the street. He’s comfortable in the Midwest, and obviously, Chicago is a great market for any superstar,” Cousins added.
Right now, Giannis is playing for a Bucks team that isn’t doing great (27-22) and is ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference. While Giannis is an incredible player and Milwaukee always has a chance to win a championship with him, the big question is how they can give him the best chance to succeed.
This season, the eight-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 31.8 points per game, 12.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. Cousins thinks that if Giannis keeps playing at this high level on a team that doesn’t seem to have a strong shot at winning the championship, he might lose patience and want to leave.
What Antetokounmpo said
In addition to suggesting that superstars have the right to make their own decisions in the league, the international star also talked about why it’s important for non-American players to play for big market teams — especially if it helps grow the game and build their personal brand. This is why Giannis said it’s his dream to see European players join big market teams.
“Now that a European will be, I believe, the face of the Lakers, this is something new for Europe. It’s never happened before. We had Pau Gasol. Obviously, he was a great player. And how do you say — Vujacic? Sasha Vujacic? — great guy, one of my close friends, but I mess up his name all the time. Now, I just love it. You know what I want? I want Luka to the Lakers, I want Jokic to the Knicks.
I want all the Europeans to go to all the big markets to see something incredible. This is what I want. This is my dream. But again, I wish both teams the best of luck, wish all the players best of luck with their journey moving forward,” Antetokounmpo said.
It’s unclear whether Antetokounmpo said this as a passive-aggressive message to the Bucks or if he truly just wanted to share that his dream is to see Europeans playing for big market teams in the NBA. No one knows for sure.
However, when someone like Cousins — who has been in the league long enough to understand what the “Greek Freak” is doing — says there’s truth to Giannis’ words, it could mean that the 30-year-old superstar might be onto something. Only time will tell.
