The offseason began at the oddest time for Giannis Antetokounmpo: Before his 13th season in the NBA was even over.
Injured on March 15 following an awkward landing after a dunk, the 31-year-old did not play another game for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2025-26 season. He played a career-low 36 games due to an assortment of injuries, snapping a nine-year all-NBA streak and seven-year streak of top-four MVP finishes.
The physical issues, as well as a nine-month long soap opera surrounding his future with the organization (Antetokounmpo admitted to former teammate Goran Dragić on April 18 he could’ve ended that speculation sooner), contributed to one of the most difficult seasons of Antetokounmpo’s career.
In an early May interview with the Journal Sentinel, Antetokounmpo had no update on his future with the organization but did endorse Taylor Jenkins as the team’s new head coach. Antetokounmpo is under team control for one more season and Bucks ownership is on record stating they will either trade him by the end of June or look to extend his contract come October.
So, Antetokounmpo’s last public comment on his immediate future in Milwaukee remains true to him: “It’s not up to me,” he said on April 12 following the Bucks’ regular-season finale in Philadelphia.
At home in Milwaukee since then, Antetokounmpo has taken to a very early summer in the only way he knows how.
“Man, I’ve been working,” he said. “I’ve really been working.”
Antetokounmpo maintained he was healthy enough to play after his injury in mid-March but after several months off of game play, his body feels rejuvenated.
“I’m not in pain,” he said. “My knee’s not hurting. My back is not hurting. Usually, I’m so beat up by May that I’m like oh my God, I’m going to wake up the next day and I’m super sore. Now I’m waking up and jumping out of the bed.”
From a skills development perspective, Antetokounmpo has looked forward to the summer of 2026 for well over a year. He has not had a full offseason free of Greek national team commitments, coronavirus pandemic limitations or injury rehab since the summer of 2018.
“I’ve seen the difference, which I’m very excited for,” he said. “Because this is going to be the first year in my career that I’m going to go from January, pretty much, until October, fully healthy. I can work on whatever I want. All the skills that I want. I can make mistakes. It’s May. Nobody’s in the gym with me. There’s no crowds. There’s no media. I can fail many times and I can just get up and pat myself on the back and come back the next day and try to be better.”While Antetokounmpo may not be currently willing to engage in any discourse about his future, rest assured the whispers that he is becoming injury prone, or that his game will not age well – or, perhaps, that teams may not offer him a full $275 million maximum extension – have reached him in some form or fashion.
Heavy is the chip that is on his shoulders now as he readies for whatever comes in 2026-27.
“I feel good. I feel really good,” he said, his voice rising a pitch. “And I love when people doubt me. I love it. I want more doubt. Everybody on your social media; follow me on that stuff and talk [expletive] to me all year long. All summer, all offseason. That’s all I want to see. I want to see doubt. No compliments.
“Tell me how much I suck and I didn’t make the playoffs and I’m not good at that or I’m not good at this. Just keep on putting gasoline in the fire and just keep on adding to that. That’s what I love. I love when people don’t believe in me. And when I come [back] I’ll do what I’m supposed to do.”
He then mused if he should put out a video showing some of the skills work he has been putting in (he did, from his home gym in early May). He’s returned to the chess board to work his mind. He’s added some boxing to his regimen this summer.
Antetokounmpo usually doesn’t open too many windows into his workouts, basketball-related or otherwise. The same with his recovery routines.But he did offer another glimpse following his personal investment into the supplement company IM8, where he provided a skeleton outline of his day-to-day in season for its web site.“It’s kind of vague, it’s not exact,” he admitted. “This is a competitive edge.
“In my daily routine, from working out, from taking naps, from eating good food and all that stuff, that helps me to be able to perform at a very high level. IM8 fits right in. Growing up, I had no nutritionist. I didn’t have no trainer, no routine, no protocol. Thank God I’m in the position I am today. In order to keep on thriving and keep on being well and being healthy, I’ve developed those things throughout my career because I know it’s important for me to be at my best.”
Throughout his career, the Journal Sentinel has reported on Antetokounmpo’s significant business investments either personally, through Ante, Inc., or the Build Your Legacy (BYL) Ventures capital fund. Such investments includes a stake in the Milwaukee Brewers, the Antetokounbros store in downtown Milwaukee and Avli, a restaurant located in the Brewers Hill neighborhood.Antetokounmpo said his decision to purchase a stake in IM8 – he did not disclose a dollar figure or percentage – and use the product had as much to do with his long view of overall health and wellness as it did his day-to-day basketball recovery.
He will turn 32 years old in December, and the father of four has reflected more often publicly on the sudden passing of his father, Charles at the age of 54 in 2017.Giannis said that while basketball has blessed him, it has also required sacrifice. He ruminated on missing milestones for his children and family, and acknowledged that looking ahead, for him, requires a lot of thought in the present.
“I want to be able to soak in as much as I can for life after basketball,” he said, his tone flattening. “Be around my kids, be around my grandkids, be around my wife, be around my brothers, be around my nephews, be around my nieces. So, in order for me to do that, I’ve got to have longevity, man. I’ve got to be very, very careful with what I put in my body.
“I don’t want the pain that I felt [for them]. I don’t want [that], ever.”
He caught himself.
“There’s two things you cannot avoid as people say, death and taxes,” he said trying to lighten the conversation. “But I want to be able to live as long as I can not just for myself but for the people that I love.”
On the court, Antetokounmpo is priming himself for a massive “comeback” campaign. Of course, where that takes place is now front and center in the basketball universe. Will it be in Milwaukee?
“We’ll see,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: With Bucks future in doubt, Giannis Antetokounmpo in gym working out