Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Says He Doesn’t Care About Winning MVP

During an interview with NBA reporter Sam Amick of The Athletic, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo said he doesn’t care about winning his third MVP Award. 

“I’m never going to make myself look like I’m crying for a trophy,” Antetokounmpo said. “One thing I’m never going to do is, I’m never going to fall into the bubble, (and) I believe this is a bubble. This is a matrix.”

Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists this season for the Bucks. The two-time MVP is third in the NBA in points and third in points per game. 

“Guys, when you go to drop your kid at school, and you have a conversation with the parents and the teacher about how your kids are doing, nobody thinks or talks about how you shot 62 percent from the field,” Antetokounmpo said. “Nobody f—ing cares. Nobody — like nobody — really f—ing cares about this.”

The Bucks are in third place in the East with a record of 42-24. They started the season 30-13 under Adrian Griffin before the front office fired Griffin. Interim coach Joe Prunty went 2-1 and current coach Doc Rivers is 10-10. 

“I ask you, and you,” Antetokounmpo said. “I ask everybody, or I ask my wife, ‘Babe, am I the MVP of this league?’ She’ll say, ‘Babe, you’re the MVP of my heart. I don’t care.’ If I ask my brothers, they’ll say, ‘We’re the MVP of life. We don’t care.’ I will never, never, in my life, fall into the bubble and say, ‘Yeah, I’m the MVP of the league’ and whine and cry or say, ‘Give it to me. I deserve it more.’ That’s not what I do, man. That’s not what I do. I don’t do that. But that, sometimes — my agent says this, but I don’t give a f— what my agent says — he says that s— hurts me too because they overlook me. Yeah, they overlook me. OK (shrugs). What can I do? What can I do? We can go home, huh?”