Giannis Antetokounmpo gets mad at reporter after question on Bucks failure / News - Basketnews.com

Giannis Antetokounmpo got heated with The Athletic's reporter Eric Nehm after his question about whether this season was a failure for the Bucks. Giannis rejected the notion of failure in sports and cited Michael Jordan's career as an example, pointing out that even he experienced periods of defeat.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con - Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con - Scanpix

Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo had 38 points and 20 rebounds for the Bucks on Wednesday night but that was not enough to save his team from the early NBA Playoffs exit.

Player of the Game EFF 30 Jimmy Butler Points 42 Accuracy 17-33 Rebounds 8 Assists 4

On the other side, Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat grabbed a 128-126 overtime win in Game 5 to complete an upset of the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

"I feel like they were playing to beat us, and we were playing to win a championship, which I don't understand," Giannis said after the elimination. "We were just a little ahead of ourselves, to be honest. But at the end of the day, it's basketball. We have to give them credits, they kicked our butts."

The Bucks finished the 2022-23 NBA regular season with a league-best 58-24 record and were favorites to win the championship. However, Giannis' injury in Game 1 had a heavy influence on their title hopes.

The Greek Freak was asked if he believes this season is a failure.

This was his answer to the question of The Athletic's Eric Nehm:

"Oh my god. You asked me the same question last year, Eric. Do you get a promotion every year on your job? No, right? So, every year your work is a failure? Yes or no? No.

Every year you work, you work toward something, toward a goal, right? Which is to get a promotion, to be able to take care of your family, provide a house for them or take care of your parents. It's not a failure, it's steps to success.

I do not want to make this personal. So, there are always steps to it. Michael Jordan played for 15 years and won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? That is what are you telling me. Yes or no?

It's a wrong question. There is no failure in sports. There are good days, there are bad days. Some days you are able to be successful, some days you are not. That's what is sports about. You don't always win. Some other people are going to win. This year, somebody else is going to win. Simple as that.

We are going to come back next year and try to be better. Hopefully, we can win a championship. 50 years: from 1971 to 2021 when we didn't win the championship, it was 50 years of failures? No, it was not. It was steps to it. We were able to win one, hopefully, we can win another one.

Sorry, I did not want to make this personal. Because you asked me the same question last year, and I was not in the right mind space to answer that question. But I remember it."

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