Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t a big fan of what he considers to be “flashy” cities. Which probably means a lot of cities if he’s using Milwaukee as a point of reference. He specifically named two cities, though, in his interview with Marc Stein of the New York Times:
“I’m a low-profile guy,” he said. “I don’t like all these flashy cities like L.A. or Miami. I don’t know if I could be the same player if I played in those cities.”
Big cities come with distractions for young, impressionable NBA players. It’s certainly not out of the question to wonder whether a player like Antetokounmpo, who came into the league extremely raw and undeveloped, would have progressed to where he is now – one of the best players in the world – without the quiet humility of a city like Milwaukee.
It really sounds like Antetokounmpo loves Milwaukee and wants to spend his career there. A lot of NBA players have strong desires to play in the “flashy” cities like Miami, L.A. or New York, and those desires make it difficult for small-market teams to re-sign their young stars.
It doesn’t seem like that will be an issue for the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
