Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after staying with Bucks at NBA trade deadline: 'Legends don't chase'

A move that would have defined the 2026 NBA trade deadline never manifested as Giannis Antetokounmpo will remain with the Milwaukee Bucks. Antetokounmpo, the most prized target on the trade market, had been the talk of the league for weeks while the Bucks entertained offers. But once the deadline passed, he informed the basketball world that he is not going anywhere -- in the immediate future, at least -- with a social media post.

"Legends don't chase. They attract," Antetokounmpo said, attaching a video of an iconic scene from "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Indeed, Antetokounmpo is "not f---ing leaving."

Now poised to remain with the Bucks through the end of the season, Antetokounmpo is not far away from having to make another decision about his future in Milwaukee. He is eligible for a contract extension at the end of the season, and if he refuses to sign, the Bucks will effectively have no choice but to ship him off by the 2027 trade deadline.

Antetokounmpo is reportedly "ready for a new home," and even with the Bucks' inaction at the deadline, the momentum still seems to trend toward a split. That is even with the two-time MVP stating this week that he wants to remain with the franchise over the long term.

"What I want deep down in my heart is I want to be a Milwaukee Buck for the rest of my career and win here," Antetokounmpo said on Tuesday per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is staying with Bucks at trade deadline: Here's how sweepstakes will change this summer

Sam Quinn

A breakup would end the most legendary tenure by a Bucks player. Antetokounmpo delivered a championship to a city that had gone 50 years without one. He is the greatest player to wear a Bucks jersey and is a lock to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Leaving Milwaukee before the end of his career will not negate the thrills he brought to the city over the last decade and a half.

"Let's put the Bucks on the side for one second," Antetokounmpo said this week to The Athletic. "Let's talk about the city itself, the memories that I've created here. When you open my kids' passports, it says Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I had four kids in the span of the last five years in this city.

"My dad is buried in this city. I've built a house for my mom 10 seconds away from my house. Literally, to walk to my mom's front door, it takes me four seconds … right next door. On what planet, on what Earth, would somebody want to leave this?"

Bucks fans undoubtedly grew tired of the drama surrounding Antetokounmpo's trade saga. What kind of reception they give him when Milwaukee plays its first game on this side of the trade deadline remains to be seen. It was just three weeks ago he and the Fiserv Forum crowd got into a booing match. The Bucks will host the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.