Starting center Myles Turner shared some blunt statements about unprofessional moments from Giannis Antetokounmpo and other Milwaukee Bucks players this season. Turner appeared on WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart’s podcast and referenced how the Bucks didn’t fine players for unprofessional behavior, like many other NBA teams do to keep everyone honest.
The former Pacers star shared the following, via the Game Recognize Game podcast:
“Doc Rivers, he didn’t fine anybody. Guys were late, guys were showing up to film whenever they wanted to show up. Guys were missing meetings. Like, it was one of the craziest things that I’ve personally experienced. If the plane took off at 2:00, we weren’t leaving until 4:30. I’m being so serious, it was crazy. Guys were an hour late to the plane.
Giannis is gonna show up whenever he wants. I think that it just kind of came with the territory. Once I saw what was going down, I was like ‘More power to you, they ain’t gonna fine you, do what you do.’ Except when we’re going to Dallas, that’s when I was like ‘Alright, come on.’”
Turner shared that this was a team issue that saw multiple players taking advantage of the relaxed rules to show up late to meetings and flights. Giannis was named as someone who always showed up whenever he desired, but Turner more so called out Doc Rivers for not issuing fines.
Why Giannis Showing Up Late Matters
Antetokounmpo is considered one of the hardest working and most professional NBA superstars today. Past seasons have featured stories about Giannis showing up early and setting the standard for the rest of the team to follow as the best player.
However, this season featured Antetokounmpo and the Bucks starting to drift apart with trade rumors lingering from the offseason to the end of the season. Milwaukee ended up keeping Giannis, but this story shows that something changed for him to start showing up late.
Reports claimed that Antetokounmpo requested a trade to the New York Knicks last summer. The Bucks talked Giannis into staying, and he apparently didn’t deliver his usual professional behavior as they struggled all year. Turner’s first and potentially only season teaming with Antetokounmpo saw the two-time MVP showing up late quite often.
Giannis Could Impact Myles Turner’s Future
Turner joined the Bucks partially due to the franchise’s desire to impress Giannis into staying with the franchise longer. Milwaukee waived Damian Lillard and committed to paying him a lot of money to play elsewhere.
However, the money freed up in the salary cap allowed the Bucks to offer Turner a strong free agent offer. Turner chose to leave the defending Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Pacers in favor of the better contract to play for Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo is expected to be traded this offseason after the Bucks failed to make the play-in and the two sides showed conflict. Turner is one of the few tradeable assets for Milwaukee and could be moved to a contender for young players. The trade risk of hoping Turner could be a top two player on a winning team has not worked out for anyone.
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