A Buck for life?

Led by then 2nd year pro Lew Alcindor, the Milwaukee Bucks won the 1971 NBA title with a 4-game sweep of the Baltimore Bullets.  It was not after 50 years later (2021) that the Bucks won their second league championships behind another young and versatile 7-footer, 6-time All Star, 2-time league MVP and Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was playing on the first year of a 5-year $228.2 million supermax deal. 

For the 2025-2026 season, he has a player option worth almost $52 million.  He will be 30-years old by that time and could be a free agent in 2025 if he declines that option.  Barring major injuries, Giannis will be at the very peak of his game. 

Unless the Bucks upgrades from the core of Brook Lopez, Kris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, Giannis just might consider playing for another team.  By 2025, Lopez will be 37, Middleton 34 and Holiday 35, not exactly the ideal ages as go-to guys, except if that 37-something goes by the name of LeBron James.

He had invested $1M in Antidote Health, a telehealth service available thru Android and iOS apps which provides accessible and affordable telemedicine services that allows patients to have remote doctors’ appointments and video visits that are preferrable to the elderly and the disabled.

Antidote Health is one of the companies he had invested in.  Giannis also has controlling interests in Ready Nutrition, a sports nutrition brand he had long been using prior to investing in.  He also owns a share of MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers.

In a recent interview during Antidote Health’s promotion, Giannis was asked of the possibility on playing with another team.  He said he’s open to the idea but for the moment, he’s happy and pledged his loyalty to the Bucks.  “Down the line, you never know.  You never know how life brings it but right now I’m committed to Milwaukee”, he said.

Superstars attract super suitors and surely, offers for his services will be juicier than Juicy Fruit.   In three years, many things can happen - like Cebu City, with all the flood waters coming, could maybe float all the way to Singapore.   The same with Giannis.  Either he remains a Buck for life or decides to take his talents somewhere else. 

One thing is certain – just like Lew Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo had established himself as a Milwaukee Bucks Legend.