Giannis Antetokounmpo Expresses His Disappointment After Bucks’ 7th Consecutive Loss

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was unhappy after their loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Cup on Friday.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Expresses His Disappointment After Bucks’ 7th Consecutive Loss

Giannis Antentokounmpo (Image credits - Firstsportz)

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It seems to be all falling apart for Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks at the moment. The Bucks were knocked out of the 2025 NBA Cup after a 118-109 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made his return after missing the last four games due to a groin strain. Antetokounmpo recorded 30 points to go along with 15 rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes, which shows that the forward is still playing at an MVP level but to no avail. However, a 37-point performance from Jalen Brunson helped the Knicks to move into the next round.

After the loss, Antetokounmpo shared a few strong words about what is wrong.

You want to win games. You want to win tournaments. We had the opportunity to go to Vegas twice in a row. Not going and being able to gamble on 34 red one more time is going to be very tough for me. At the end of the day, I want to win. We’ve lost seven in a row. I don’t remember the last time I lost seven in a row.

Following the loss, the Bucks have fallen to 11th in the Eastern Conference standings and are currently not even in the play-in spots. And to make matters worse, this was their seventh consecutive defeat. There is not much that Antetokounmpo can do as the Bucks forward is averaging 31.1 points, 11.1 rebounds and 6.9 assists this campaign.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is impressed with Ryan Rollins’ growth

While nothing looks optimistic for the Bucks right now, the one positive spark in the last two weeks has been the rise of Ryan Rollins. With Kevin Porter Jr. ruled out, Rollins got a chance to showcase his talent as the point-guard and things have looked promising for the 23-year-old.

Ryan Rollins and Giannis Antentokounmpo
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ryan Rollins (Image credits – Clutchpoints/X)

While Rollins had a tough night against the Knicks, Antetokounmpo had a few words of praises for the young guard.

I’ve been in the NBA 13 years. I’ve had 200-300 teammates. A jump for a guy that came two years ago to a two-way contract, non-guaranteed, a guaranteed deal, to the player he is today. I don’t think I’ve seen a jump like that in my career.

The 44th overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft is currently averaging 18.6 points along with 4.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game this season, which is a huge jump from 6.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in the 2024-25 season. Rollins has definitely made a case for himself for the Most Improved Player award.

Favorites for the 2025 NBA Cup

With the defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, knocked out, there will be no back-to-back titles this year.

While talking about the potential NBA Cup champions on NBA on Prime, Dirk Nowitzki said,

I am going to go a little boring, I am going to go with OKC, the defending champs. First of all, they lost last year in the final so that’s something that looks good in their resume if they win that.

As the NBA Cup reaches the quarterfinal stages, the four teams from the Eastern Conference are the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors, who have been a surprise this season.

While from the West, the four teams are the inaugural NBA Cup champions – the Los Angeles Lakers, who will take on the San Antonio Spurs, and the Phoenix Suns will face the NBA champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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