Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is expected to leave the organization after 12 years of service.
At 30 years old, Antetokounmpo is still in the prime of his career. Evidently, the 9x NBA All-Star will garner a lot of interest from around the league if he becomes available this offseason.
If he indeed wants a move out of Milwaukee, joining a big-market team could be something that Giannis may take into consideration.
However, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal recently explained why the Greek Freak shouldn’t chase the dream of playing in a big market like LA.
NBA fans saw the best version of Shaq when he was a member of the Lakers for eight years. O’Neal won a plethora of accolades during his tenure with the team, including three NBA Championships.
Despite that, the Diesel suggested Antetokounmpo should stay away from the bright lights of Los Angeles.
“I would tell him that, probably, a bigger market doesn’t matter. Social media is the market now. Giannis has made a name for himself on social media,” O’Neal said, via Yahoo Sports.
He added: “If you go to LA, 50 percent of your contract goes to taxes, more pressure, and more stress. Being that he’s in control of that ship, he should go upstairs and be like, ‘I want to see all the free agents, I want phone numbers and I want to talk to them.’”
In simple terms, O’Neal wants Antetokounmpo to gather free agents alongside him and get traded to a separate team.
This is an interesting idea as Giannis is someone who can push a team to championship contention with the right pieces around him.
Considering O’Neal made the switch from the Orlando Magic to the Lakers, many may be confused about his advice for the Greek Freak.
However, the Big Aristotle defended his argument, stating: “He should bring people to him. When I was coming up, it was a small market was too small, probably needed to go to a bigger market.”
“But now, every market is the same. Nobody cares what city you’re in, this ain’t the 90s,” Shaq concluded.
It will be interesting if Antetokounmpo takes O’Neal’s advice and focuses on getting traded to the right team rather than focusing on the market size of a franchise.
Either way, any team that lands Antetokounmpo is bound to benefit from a superstar who averaged 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game.
