The Milwaukee Bucks entered the 2025-26 season with a lot of questions. Over the offseason, they parted ways with Damian Lillard via a waive and stretch and brought in Myles Turner with the extra cap space. On top of all that, Giannis Antetokounmpo was in constant trade rumors for the Bucks, as no one knew if he was going to be around by the start of this season.

However, Giannis ended up staying put in Milwaukee and just made his return from injury against the New York Knicks on Friday, as the team unfortunately extended its losing streak to seven games. With the Bucks further dropping back in the Play-In tournament seeding in the Eastern Conference, Giannis decided to deliver a message to his team after the loss to the Knicks.

Giannis Sends Message To Bucks

"At the end of the day, you got to come in, do your job, do what you're paid to do, defend, rebound the ball, do the little things. Sometimes, when you worry about doing the little things, all the other things add up. If you're so concerned about scoring the ball, getting yourself going offensively, and that doesn't work for you, now you feel like you can not do nothing," Giannis said.

As a championship-winning player and one of the best of his generation, Giannis knows what it takes to be a successful team. Looking back on that Bucks roster that won the title against the Phoenix Suns in 2021, Giannis and Bobby Portis are the only two players still on the team today.

"You cannot worry about one shot or two shots that you missed, which took four seconds out of the game to dictate 47 minutes 56 seconds of the game. We got to get back to that mindset," he added.

Additionally, Giannis shared that it can't be a one-man show and that it's going to be a total team effort if they want to be a winning and competitive team.

Giannis led the way for the Bucks in his 28 minutes of action, having an impressive 30 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists in the 118-109 loss. While Kyle Kuzma added 20 points off the bench and AJ Green had 18 points of his own, it's going to have to be a full team effort from the Bucks if they want to take care of teams like the Knicks.

Milwaukee returns to action on Saturday, back at home, as they'll face the Brooklyn Nets with a chance to get right. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST.