The mild-mannered and ever-polite Giannis Antetokounmpo snapped back on Wednesday.
After a shocking first-round elimination at home in Game 5 to the Miami Heat, he was asked by a reporter: “Do you view this season as a failure?”
Antetokounmpo, visibly upset, put his hands over his face and sternly replied, “You asked me the same question last year, Eric. OK? Do you get a promotion every year? No, right? So every year you work is a failure, yes or no? No.
“Every year you work towards something, towards a goal. Get a promotion, take care of your family, provide a house, I don’t know, take care of parents. It’s not a failure. I don’t want to make this personal, but there’s steps to success.
“Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships. The other nine years are a failure?”
The reporter replied that he would not characterize the season as a failure, but Antetokounmpo, 28, was still unhappy with the question.
“So why did you ask me this question? There is no failure in sports.”
Antetokounmpo made sure to end his answer by reiterating that the reporter asked a similar question last season but that he wasn’t in the correct mental state to answer.
“You lost your first seven seasons in the league, but you won last year. Now you’re back to losing. Does it feel different now that you’ve been to the peak,” the same reporter asked after last season’s defeat against the Celtics.
His response had a lot of similarities this year but less evident frustration.
“At the end of the day we are playing sports,” Antetokounmpo said calmly. “There’s always a winner and a loser. I’m not viewing my first seven seasons like I lost. It was a learning experience.
“No promises that you will make it to the second round. Some have never been in the second round.”
The Bucks will not see the second round this season.
The Miami Heat advanced past Milwaukee with the upset and will face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Game 1 is Sunday at 1 p.m.
