Giannis Antetokounmpo is planning to end his basketball career in his native country of Greece.
“I’m 30 years old, I can play in the NBA until I’m 36-38. I’d like to end my career in a Greek team, why not?” he said on ANT1’s “The 2night Show,” according to a translation by BasketNews. “I don’t want to live in the United States. As soon as I leave the NBA, I want to return to Greece.”
Antetokounmpo then went on to name several Greek basketball clubs.
“I could end my career here, whether this team is called Filathlitikos, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, or Aris, I’m talking about all the teams now.”
Elsewhere in the interviews, he expressed his gratitude to Bucks, who drafted him with the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft.
“I owe everything to the Bucks. They’ve changed my life and my family’s life. I’ve shed sweat and blood for them,” Giannis said. “We won a championship after 50 years. I brought the trophy to Milwaukee.”
“I’m someone who always sets goals. A few weeks ago, it was the medal — and I did it. The game against Turkiye was a bad day, but they were the better team,” Giannis continued. “They had five NBA players, and they deserved to finish second. People had us ranked ninth or tenth; what we achieved was amazing, but I still want another NBA ring.”
“I can’t know what the future holds — right now I’m living in the present. I want to win a championship with Milwaukee, but you never know what life brings,” Giannis added.
The Athens native began his professional basketball career with Filathlitikos, a Greek B league team, and played two seasons. The Bucks selected him with the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft.
Recently, Milwaukee made history by signing his brother Alex and re-signing Thanasis. It will mark the first time in NBA history that three siblings were on the same active squad.