Giannis Antetokounmpo has finally broken his silence on the Bucks acquiring Damian Lillard earlier this week. For the Greek-born star, it's a bittersweet acquisition. "Jrue is my fucking brother for life. I love his family, I love him. I appreciate him and I wish him nothing but the best. He blessed me with a fucking championship. He's the one who made that huge steal in Game 5 of the Finals. I went to battle with him multiple times. Fuck basketball. Fuck the media shit. This guy is my brother for life, and it's always going to be like that. He's going to thrive wherever he ends up," Giannis told Bleacher Report.
However, that isn't to say that he isn't excited to play with Dame. "Now at the same time, I'm excited to have Dame. He gives us a chance to win a championship. I'm excited to play with the caliber of player that he is. He can score the ball in his sleep and shoot the lights out. It's a bittersweet day for the city of Milwaukee. You get Dame, who is a great player, but you lose a great guy. Jrue took us to the promised land. I'm 10 years in now. I know it's a business. At the end of the day, Jrue will alway be be my brother for life. He's one of the best human beings I've been around. But we've got to focus on the goal to win the championship. Dame wants this. He's hungry to win, and he's going to push us. I'm very happy to have him on our team."
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Giannis And Dame Create Eastern Superteam
Lillard joined the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a three-team trade this week. The Bucks get Lillard while the the Blazers get Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, Jrue Holiday, a first-round pick in 2029, and the right to swap first-rounders in 2028 and 2030. Meanwhile, the Suns, who helped make the trade happen, get Jusuf Nurkić, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, and Grayson Allen.
If there's a winner in this trade, it's Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee's star has been vocal in recent weeks about the need for the franchise to surround him with talent. Now he has a co-star who was top five in points per game last season and top ten in assists per game. Furthermore, the Bucks can now be a little more confident that Giannis isn't going to leave after the aforementioned worrying comments about wanting to win coming before team loyalty. The Bucks' season opener comes against the Sixers on October 26.
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