Giannis Antetokounmpo not losing sleep over criticism from Gilbert Arenas

“He doesn’t understand basketball yet,” Arenas said. “He plays the sport, he won a championship, cool. He doesn’t really understand how to be great, how to be better, how to train his body.” Isola and Scalabrine asked Giannis Antetokounmpo to …

“He doesn’t understand basketball yet,” Arenas said. “He plays the sport, he won a championship, cool. He doesn’t really understand how to be great, how to be better, how to train his body.” Isola and Scalabrine asked Giannis Antetokounmpo to respond on Friday and of course the two-time MVP took the high road.  “Does it bother me? I’m not going to lie, it makes me want to work harder,” Giannis said. “Do I go back home and think about it and I can’t sleep? Not necessarily.

Source: Drake Bentley @ Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

BasketNews @BasketNews_com
Giannis Antetokounmpo enjoyed his time in Sweden two years ago when nobody knew him there.
Milwaukee Bucks superstar remembered those days and now has an only post-basketball career wish👇
basketnews.com/news-178704-gi… – 1:36 AM
Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
Mike Budenholzer, Giannis Antetokounmpo sit out as #Bucks lose to #Grizzlies in preseason opener jsonline.com/story/sports/n… via @journalsentinel – 11:46 PM
Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
Thanasis Antetokounmpo-Sandro Mamukelashvili-Lindell Wigginton-MarJon Beauchamp-AJ Green open the fourth quarter for the #Bucks – 9:52 PM
Eric Nehm @eric_nehm
Before the game, I asked Mike Budenholzer about the bench conduct rules being a point of emphasis, especially with Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s high-energy support.
Giannis Antetokounmpo ended up being the first offender. – 9:43 PM
Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
It’s been a game of musical chairs for the #Bucks not playing.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has moved to the front of the bench, along with a bag of popcorn. – 9:31 PM
John Schuhmann @johnschuhmann
Was watching Portis & Lopez play together for a little bit tonight & was curious…
They’ve played 605 total minutes together in the 2 years MIL has had BP.
But only 3 of those 605 minutes have come with Holiday, Middleton & Antetokounmpo. – 8:58 PM
Jamal Collier @JamalCollier
No Giannis or Ja Morant tonight, but still glad to have NBA basketball back pic.twitter.com/goCMwjLjFH – 8:12 PM

Katy Winge @katywinge
The similarities between Giannis and Jokić are tremendous. pic.twitter.com/MDDL6NVKJp – 5:09 PM
StatMuse @statmuse
Most career PPG on under 15 FGA per game:
22.1 — Charles Barkley
21.8 — Giannis Antetokounmpo
21.1 — David Robinson
20.6 — Moses Malone pic.twitter.com/vjn3UyR01L – 4:41 PM

Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
“I want to be like Tim Duncan. Where the hell is Tim Duncan?!” 🤣😆
Giannis gives his retirement plans to @Frank Isola and @Brian Scalabrine pic.twitter.com/CMFnuc8Rm8 – 3:33 PM

Jim Owczarski @JimOwczarski
#Bucks rookie AJ Green met the media after shoot around this morning – as one of just 4 camp players who wasn’t on the roster last year he said the learning curve hasn’t been too sharp.
He added if Giannis and Jrue are passing him the ball – it means he’s open & to let it fly. – 12:25 PM

More on this storyline

“But at the end of the day, hey, I don’t know, when I am 45 years old, 50 years old, I might be, you know, a little bit bitter, too. I might be seeing, you know, this 20-year-old making, signing a three-year 900 million. … Maybe, I don’t know, but I don’t think so. “Because I’m grateful for everything that God has blessed me with, for my kids, for my brothers, for my family, for my father, you know, for my son and the people I work with. I’m grateful for it. And I don’t think I’m going to be like that.” -via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel / October 2, 2022
While talking to Eurohoops after qualifying for the Eurobasket quarterfinals, Dragic didn’t hold any punches on the issue: “Giannis is the MVP. Gilbert Arenas is not. Was he ever the MVP? I don’t think so. So he can’t talk about Giannis. Giannis won the championship, won the MVP award. He has been the defensive player of the year”. -via EuroHoops.net / September 10, 2022
Giannis’ popularity grew exponentially, especially among younger children when Disney released a movie — “Rise” — chronicling his childhood. He said his real-life experience was much tougher than the Disney film and that his mom was not a fan of the original script. “They’re doing their job, I call it dramatized, fabricate. … My mom told them from day one, we don’t want that. We want our story. … The true story, it’s not kid friendly,” Giannis said. “(Life) was definitely a lot harder. And, there was things we couldn’t say. It’s very hard to put in a two-hour movie, your whole life. So, we decided together to put as much as we can, things that people can get inspired from. See a little bit a glimpse of our story, and I think they did an unbelievable job.” -via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel / October 2, 2022
Giannis said it took multiple Zoom calls, “hours and hours” of conversation to convince his mom to approve the script. “The final piece, it was good. My mom was happy, that’s what I care about. My brothers loved it. I think my dad would be extremely proud of the movie.” Giannis added he “cannot wait” for a movie to be released that is “more dark,” because that would be more accurate. -via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel / October 2, 2022