Giannis Antetokounmpo: ‘In order for you to be great, you have to be a little bit crazy’

With Mamukelashvili back in the locker room, Antetokounmpo made an admission. “I’m gonna say this — in my head, I don’t know if I did it in this situation — but in my head, sometimes I exaggerate things,” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “I make things in a way to make me, to fill me up with fuel, to get more. And maybe, it was one of those incidents.” “But I remember he said something. Like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna shut you down today. You’re not gonna score on me.’ Something like that, but I didn’t say a word to him. But the whole time I was lifting, all I could think about was those words. ‘I’m going to shut you down, man. I’m going to do this, that.’ But Mamu doesn’t know that. And that’s when you strike them. When they’re not ready. They think that moment has passed, but it hasn’t. It’s coming right back.” -via The Athletic / October 19, 2022

“They ask, ‘Did you believe you’d be what you are today?’ I don’t,” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “And there’s the other question, ‘Did you want to be what you are today?’ And I never intended to be what I am today. I wanted to be a great basketball player. I never wanted to be the best player. I said I wanted to be an NBA player, I never wanted to be one of the best.” “But I worked extremely hard, so hard that all of a sudden I got to this point and I was like, ‘Holy s—, what the f—‘s going on?’ I’m at the top of this mountain. -via The Athletic / October 19, 2022

“And this is the f—ed up part — sorry, excuse my cursing — the messed up part is, I want to be here now. I’ve accepted it. I’ve taken the challenge, the next chapter of my life. But everything that comes with it, I don’t want it. I don’t want it. The attention. I’m in Abu Dhabi, like I’m shooting a free throw warming up like I always do, and there’s 50 people around me taking pictures — **chk chk chk chk** — I don’t want that. But at the end of the day, with my personality, I’m not going to shy away from it, but I’m going to focus on the game. If I focus on the game, I stay humble. I can keep on moving forward. I can keep navigating what’s coming next.” -via The Athletic / October 19, 2022