Giannis Antetokounmpo to Sign 5-Year, $228-Million Supermax Contract With Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo is about to be a very rich man. According to ESPN, the Milwaukee Bucks star [...]

Giannis Antetokounmpo is about to be a very rich man. According to ESPN, the Milwaukee Bucks star has agreed to re-sign with the team on a supermax contract. He will receive $228 million for five years and will include an opt-out after the fourth year.

"This is my home, this is my city," Antetokounmpo posted on Twitter and Instagram once the deal was done. "I'm blessed to be able to be a part of the Milwaukee Bucks for the next 5 years. Let's make these years count. The show goes on, let's get it." There was speculation about Antetokounmpo's future when the 2019-2020 season came to an end. If Antetokounmpo passed on the contract offer from the Bucks, he would have become an unrestricted free agent next summer and would have been the clear top free agent on the market.

Antetokounmpo has won the MVP award the last two seasons and has led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA each of the past two years. However, the team has failed to reach the NBA Finals, losing to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 and falling to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this past summer.

"It's simple. You've got to be better than what you were last year. If you did not win the whole thing, you've got to get better," Antetokounmpo said in September after accepting the MVP trophy. "If you win the whole thing, you've got to get better and do it again." Antetokounmpo, 26, joined LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players to win multiple NBA MVP awards by age 25 (he turned 26 in December). He's the team's best player since Abdul-Jabbar who talked about Antetokounmpo's future last year.

"I think [Antetokounmpo] should look into his own heart and make a decision based on what's important to him and his professional life," Abdul-Jabbar, who led the Bucks to their only title in 1971, said to ESPN in October 2019. This past season, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. He also had a 31.9 player efficiency rating, which is the highest in NBA history, according to ESPN. The Greece native also won Defensive Player of the year, becoming the third player in NBA history to win that award and MVP in the same year.

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