Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard pose for a picture during the team’s media day, Oct. 2, in Milwaukee. Morry Gash, Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo wants to make one thing clear about his partnership with new Milwaukee Bucks teammate Damian Lillard.
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, says there’s no debate about which of the superstars will have the ball in his hands more. Antetokounmpo has no trouble handing that responsibility to Lillard. After all, he is a seven-time all-NBA player in his own right.
“This is in no shape or form any competition with me and him, who’s going to have the ball more,” Antetokounmpo said. “He will have the ball more. And I trust, I believe he’s going to find me. And not just me, he’s going to find our teammates and put us in the right positions.”
Milwaukee’s acquisition of Lillard just before the start of training camp gives the Bucks two members of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team as they try to bounce back from a stunning first-round playoff exit.
Antetokounmpo had said he wanted the Bucks to show their commitment to winning another championship as he ponders whether to sign a contract extension. Lillard sought a trade to a contender after advancing beyond the second round of the playoffs just once in 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.
This move satisfied both their requests. Now it’s up to the two of them to help deliver on the Bucks’ championship expectations.
First, they must figure out how to play together.
“I think when you’re putting winning first — and that’s the reason I’m here, is to have opportunity to win — I think you’ve got to come into it open-minded and understanding that it might take some sacrifice,” Lillard said. “It usually does if you want to attain anything. I think you’ve got to come in willing to sacrifice.
“And I also know that I’m joining his team, where he’s been and he’s done things a certain way. And I’m also here to enhance it, to bring what I bring so it can be better, so we give ourselves a chance to win.”
Antetokounmpo and Lillard give Milwaukee one of the league’s best tandems — if not the best tandem.
The 28-year-old Antetokounmpo won back-to-back MVP awards in 2019 and 2020 before leading the 2021 Bucks to the franchise’s first title in half a century. Lillard, 33, has averaged at least 24 points each of the last eight seasons and had a career-high 32.2 points per game last year, though a calf strain limited him to 58 games.
They took the floor as teammates for the first time during Sunday’s preseason game at Los Angeles in the Bucks’ 108-97 victory over the Lakers. Antetokounmpo said the impact of Lillard’s presence on the floor was immediately apparent.
“I’ve never seen from the first play of the game, somebody being double-teamed,” Antetokounmpo said. “It was a surprise. It’s a preseason game. It’s not a playoff game. It’s not a regular-season game. It’s not the in-season tournament game. Or a play-in game. It’s a preseason game, you know, and he was double-teamed. It’s insane, man.”
The Bucks paid a heavy price to make this combination a reality.
Part of the package they gave up included two-time All-Star guard Jrue Holiday, who ended up with one of their top Eastern Conference rivals after Portland sent him to the Boston Celtics in a separate trade. The Bucks don’t have control over any of their first-round draft picks until 2031.
That prospect could have the Bucks facing serious issues down the road. But for now, it’s every other team in the league facing a dilemma as it tries to figure out how to play defense when Antetokounmpo and Lillard are on the floor together.
CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse said he had no explanation for why James Harden skipped practice on Wednesday but planned to proceed as if the disgruntled guard will play in the preseason finale.
“If he’s here, we go; if he’s not here, we go,” Nurse told reporters at the 76ers’ New Jersey complex.
Harden has yet to play in the preseason. He did attend training camp and continued to practice with the 76ers in the wake of his offseason trade demand. Harden said last week his fractured relationship with team president Daryl Morey could not be repaired — comparing it to a broken marriage — and said over the summer that he could not play for the 76ers.
Part of Harden’s complaint stems from his belief he should have earned a long-term contract with the Sixers after last season. It never came, thus the trade demand.
SPURS 117, ROCKETS 103: Top draft pick Victor Wembanyama scored 15 points in 21 minutes to lead San Antonio over visiting Houston.
WIZARDS 131, KNICKS 106: Jordan Poole scored 41 points in 27 minutes and Washington rolled past New York at Madison Square Garden.
NETS 107, HEAT 104: Reserves Lonnie Walker IV scored 22 points and Day’Ron Sharpe added 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 11 rebounds as visiting Brooklyn held off Miami.
