“I love playing in New York. I think it just brings the best out of me.” When the man himself, Giannis Antetokounmpo, drops a quote like that, you can’t blame New York Knicks fans for getting their hopes up. Fresh off their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, Knicks fans were already dreaming bigger — like Giannis bigger. Pairing the Greek Freak with Jalen Brunson felt less like fantasy and more like fate, with trade rumors heating up fast. But now, just as hopes were peaking, personal family ties may be the one thing keeping Giannis loyal to Milwaukee.
NBA analyst Dan Titus recently cooled these rising hopes, not with talk of contracts or draft picks, but by highlighting Giannis’s personal life and comfort in Milwaukee. “I mean, I was watching the video of when he—right before he signed his contract extension—and it seems like he’s very good with being in Milwaukee,” Titus explained. “Like, the people don’t bother him when he’s in public, which seems to be a very important thing for Giannis—just respecting his privacy.” This echoes Giannis’s own 2017 admission: “Milwaukee is really quiet. The people here are really respectful. They can see me in the street, walking on the road. I can go to anyplace in Milwaukee without people being all over me. I appreciate that.”
This often-overlooked factor is crucial: Giannis isn’t just a basketball player. He’s a father and a husband who, despite global superstardom, prioritizes a degree of normalcy. Titus elaborated on these family reasons: “His kids are settled, he’s good; he said he can move around the city, he’s very comfortable.”
Beyond comfort, there’s a profound loyalty. For Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s not just business; it’s deeply personal. He feels a strong connection to the city and the organization that drafted him as a skinny 18-year-old from Greece. He told TIME, “This is a team that helped me, drafted me with the 15th pick. I wasn’t ready to be in the NBA, but they still drafted me, so I appreciate it… They showed me loyalty, so I want to show loyalty back to them.”
Apr 10, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) gets ready to play the New Orleans Pelicans at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
However, this doesn’t mean he’ll never leave. Giannis has consistently stated that winning is his ultimate priority. In a notable New York Times interview, he asserted, “Winning a championship comes first. I don’t want to be 20 years on the same team and don’t win another championship.” On the “48 Minutes” podcast, he was even more direct: “I am a Milwaukee Buck, but most importantly, I am a winner… and if there is a better situation for me to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy, I have to take that situation.”
This creates the ultimate dilemma: a tug-of-war between loyalty, family comfort, and the relentless drive for more championships. For Knicks fans envisioning Giannis in blue and orange, these personal and family reasons—the quiet life, settled kids, and deep-seated loyalty—represent a significant setback to those aspirations. It’s a tough reality for the fanbase. But the front office isn’t content to simply watch.
With Giannis unlikely, could Kevin Durant be the Knicks’ real offseason target?
After a season that ended just two wins shy of the NBA Finals, they made the absolutely shocking decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau. That kind of move, after making it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, sends a crystal-clear message: this team is in full-on ‘championship or bust’ mode, and they’re ready to make some massive, win-now swings this offseason.
With the Giannis pursuit looking more like a long shot, a new, equally massive name has been thrown into the mix: Kevin Durant. Former NBA player Marcus Morris recently made a super bold claim, saying that if the Knicks could somehow pull off a trade for KD, “They will walk to the championship.” Now that is the kind of talk that gets a city buzzing. The idea of pairing one of the most gifted scorers in the history of the game with a bulldog leader like Jalen Brunson is undeniably tempting.
But here’s the reality check: how would that even work? A trade for a superstar like Durant, just like one for Giannis, would be incredibly complicated and expensive. To match Durant’s massive salary, the Knicks would almost certainly have to part with a major piece of their core. We’re talking a trade package likely centered around Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, or OG Anunoby, plus other players and probably a whole lot of draft picks. Do the Knicks really want to gut the very core that just created so much excitement and got them to the ECF? That’s a huge question.
And then there’s the risk factor with KD himself. He’s still an absolute bucket-getter, no doubt about it. But he’s also an aging superstar with a history of significant injuries. Bringing him in would be a massive gamble, a “win in the next two years or bust” kind of move. It would be the complete opposite of building around the current core of Brunson, KAT, and Bridges. Is it worth trading away a younger star like Towns, who struggled in the playoffs but is still a huge talent, for an older, more injury-prone Durant, even if his ceiling is higher?
This is the huge dilemma facing the Knicks’ front office this summer. The Thibodeau firing shows they’re not satisfied with just being “good.” They want to be great, and they want it now. The question is, do they run it back with a new coach, hoping for internal improvement from the guys who just gave them their best season in a quarter-century? Or do they push all their chips to the middle of the table for a future Hall of Famer like Kevin Durant, knowing it could either lead them to a championship parade or blow up in their faces? For Knicks fans, this offseason is shaping up to be just as intense and nerve-wracking as the playoffs were.
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