"I Cannot Recall That Meeting" - Giannis Immediately Called Bullshit On The Bucks Owner's Claim About A Secret Meeting Over The Summer Where Giannis Committed Long Term To Milwaukee

John Fisher. Getty Images.

With NBA Media Days opening up around the league today, most of the stuff you're going to hear from players, coaches, GMs etc is pretty standard. Everyone feels great, everyone loves their chances, everyone is excited to have the best season of their careers, it's all par for the pandering course on a day like today.

But sometimes, things don't always go as planned.

Take for example, the Bucks Media Day. Given Shams' desire to get Giannis out of MIL just so that he could be proven right, you could say that Giannis' future as a Buck was a big time topic this offseason. What we were led to believe was going to be a summer where perhaps Giannis asked out, instead, the opposite happened. They brought in Myles Turner, they gave Giannis' brother a guaranteed deal, and for the moment, Giannis remains a Buck. Unfortunately for Shams, it seemed like he was going to have to wear that "L" despite how hard he tried to speak that Giannis trade into existence. 

Or will he? Call me crazy, but this feels a little awkward

OK, so who's lying? My initial thought is that if this magical conversation took place where Giannis committed his unwavering love and desire to stay a Buck, that's something I feel like he'd remember. 

Now, you may see that quote from Giannis and think there's trouble in paradise and that Shams was actually right the whole time

To me, you have to remember the Giannis playbook when it comes to this stuff. If there's one thing he has shown time and time again, it's that he's always going to put pressure on the Bucks front office to not get complacent and continue their efforts in building a contending roster. When he may or may not float out the idea of no longer being a Buck like he did in that quote, that's not because he's actually looking to leave, but more so the front office and ownership don't get lazy and just assume they can rest on laurels. 

Could Giannis have chosen to lie instead and talked about what a great meeting that was? Of course. But that's not really how Giannis operates when it comes to this stuff. He's always going to apply the pressure in this way, which has led to mixed results. When he did it and it led to trading for Jrue Holiday? That worked. When he did it and it led to trading for Dame? That didn't work out so well. 

So I look at this as more Giannis not willing to put up with any bullshit when it comes to the future of the Bucks, and this was his way of reminding ownership and the front office that if they screw around, everything is on the table. Compare that to say, how Nikola Jokic answered this same question today

just a tad different, wouldn't you say?

In a year where Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton are hurt and nobody has any idea when Joel Embiid will be playing basketball again, the Bucks have a real opportunity to have another top 3-4 seed type season. I'd say there's a decent amount of pressure for them to get out of the 1st round, something they have not done in the past 3 seasons. In fact, since winning their title in 2020-21, the Bucks haven't even made an ECF since.

So, depending on how things shake out, I wouldn't say we are out of the woods with Giannis' future just yet. That was true no matter what the Bucks owner may or may not have said today, but after Giannis straight-up called bullshit on that quote, I'd say the pressure is only going to increase from here on out.