Stephen A. Smith sends strong message to Giannis, Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks just won’t quit.

But the NBA world is fatigued. Every week, a new rumored preference surfaces and changes the direction of the Bucks and their top star. Giannis doesn’t want to quit on his first and only NBA organization, but he doesn’t want to waste away another season.

The Bucks don’t truly want to part ways with the face of their franchise, but they only have so many resources to make moves to try to satisfy the Greek Freak’s needs.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith urged the two parties to accept the situation and move on as soon as possible.

“The Milwaukee Bucks have to make a move before this trade deadline,” Smith said.

“Do not wait until the summer. You got to make a move now, period. The crowd was booing. Giannis is booing back. The love affair is over. Look at the roster around him. Look at the plus-minus of these cats when you take away Giannis. … Everybody is a flagrant minus. Jrue Holiday is gone. Middleton’s gone. Lillard is gone. Just look at the squad. They’re done.”

The Bucks are 12th in the Eastern Conference with an 18-27 record. Antetokounmpo is expected to miss a handful of weeks after going down with a calf injury late last week. If history continues to repeat itself this season, then the Giannis-less Bucks could see another slide down the ranks, pushing them further away from the postseason.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Bucks trailed the Atlanta Hawks by 3.5 games. They are on the outside of the Play-In picture.

The Bucks haven’t reached the point of no return, but the outside pressure for them to move Giannis is building quickly as the Bucks struggle to pose any kind of threat in the East. 

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