Kevin Durant Suggests Giannis Should Play For Himself

[ESPN] - “What I would say to him, I would tell him to play for himself,” Durant said. “Because he’s the one out there putting in the work, he’s the one out there getting up in the morning staying committed to the game. Obviously [the comments about staying put] sounds good to the fans in Milwaukee and to the ownership, because he cares so much about wanting to please them and play well for them, and I get it. But his career is about him; it’s about whatever he wants to do and however he feels is right for him. And what type of basketball does he want to play? He’s not going to stay in Milwaukee if he’s not having fun playing the game.”

This will clearly piss some people off, especially the fact that Durant said it just a couple of years after leaving Oklahoma City for Golden State. But, is he wrong? If you can separate Durant from the quote, it makes a whole lot of sense. Now, for the background. ESPN did a huge article on Giannis and his breakout and whether or not he can actually stay in Milwaukee once he gets ready to hit free agency in 2021.

There is some similarity between Giannis and Durant though – besides the fact they are both damn near 7-feet tall and can do just about everything on the court. Both started their career in these small-market cities on teams that had obvious holes. The moment the Thunder traded James Harden away there started to become some roster issues and that only grew as Durant’s career went on. Throw in the fact they could never seem to get past the Warriors or Spurs – making the NBA Finals just once – there became personal frustration. It almost feels like Giannis is going to go through the same exact thing.

The Bucks are one of the up and coming teams, but watching them and looking at the roster you can see holes. Jabari Parker is about to hit free agency. Do the Bucks bring him back? The Bucks traded for Eric Bledsoe – is he good enough for be the second or third guy on this team? They currently have over $93 million tied up to Giannis, Bledsoe, Middelton, Snell, Delly, Henson and Teletovic. With the limited space they’ll have, can they bring in someone else to play alongside Giannis? Then there’s the LeBron, Sixers and Celtics problem. Similar to how the Thunder were always a good team but couldn’t get past the Spurs/Warriors, will the Bucks be able to survive LeBron in the East? Throw in the fact the Sixers and Celtics are two of the youngest teams while also two of the best teams in the East. Can they pass those guys? I find it harder to believe the more you look into everything.

In fairness to Giannis he came out and said he wants to stay in Milwaukee. His exact quote:

“Definitely. That’s one of my goals,” Antetokounmpo told ESPN recently. “Kobe [Bryant] did it. Tim Duncan did it. Dirk Nowitzki did it. I just want to be one of those guys … that stays for the city, play for the city for 20 years.”

That should make Bucks fans feel warm and fuzzy inside, but like Durant said you have to play for yourself. The Bucks will be going through a coaching search whenever their season ends. In a league where the players have some power, especially if you’re a star, you need to make sure you’re doing what you want to do instead of what’s being put out there by media or other entities. The Bucks are fascinating though strictly because of Giannis. But, you can throw in what I mentioned above, the fact that they actually get to keep the 16th pick in this year’s draft and moving into a new arena and they could jump into that top tier in the East – especially if LeBron leaves.