NBA
Milwaukee’s two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals he almost retired in 2020
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated12 Apr 2023
The Milwaukee Bucks finished the regular season with the league’s best record and the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. This is the time of year when two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo kicks it into overdrive and carries the Bucks. He recently opened up in an interview that he almost retired from basketball back in 2020, a season before the Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship.
Antetokounmpo says he was “ready to walk away” and this comes as a shock to many. He was 26 years when he was contemplating retiring and even had conversations with the front office about it. Giannis was dealing with stress and mental health issues at the time as the weight of being considered one of the best players in the world was a lot to handle.
Wisconsin Sports Betting sites have the Bucks at (+275) to win the Finals this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo says he considered retirement:
“In 2020, I was ready to walk away from the game. I had that conversation with the front office. If something doesn’t make me happy, I don’t want to do it. I’m just going to stay home… try to be happy… I don’t care. (part 1) pic.twitter.com/9AABgFf5eB
— NBA Stream 🏀 (@NBAStreamIG) April 11, 2023
Giannis Antetokounmpo almost walked away from basketball in 2020
The seven-time all-star signed a $228 million supermax deal in 2020 but had a lot of regrets shortly afterward. It was the largest contract in NBA history at the time and people could not fathom him walking away from that kind of money. However, Giannis was not worried about the money at that time.
He needed help with the stress that he was dealing with, on and off the court. Giannis spoke about how at times he was trying to seclude himself from others around him when that is not really his personality at all. Kevin Love is a mental health advocate in the NBA and even helped Giannis at a time when he needed it.
Antetokounmpo has this to say to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to discuss how he almost walked away from the game.
“Everybody is looking at me like I was crazy. ‘You just signed the largest contract in NBA history and you want to walk away from the game and all that money…” – Giannis Antetokounmpo
Everything worked out in the long run for the Bucks and Giannis. Milwaukee is still waiting to see who they will be facing in the first round of the playoffs. The eighth seed has not been locked up yet.
