The thing about Giannis Antetokounmpo is that when he talks, the NBA listens, even if it’s in the middle of a game. Tuesday night, NBC cameras caught the two-time MVP screaming something that didn’t sound like your usual post-dunk scream. After a block and a dunk against the Knicks, he turned to the crowd and shouted words that reflected louder than the final score: “THIS IS MY CITY!” The Bucks went on to win 121-111, but the message stayed longer than that.

When asked afterward what exactly he said, Giannis smiled. “I love when it’s tough. I thrive when it’s tough. When you make it tough, I thrive,” he clarified. Whether that was a statement to Madison Square Garden or a declaration to the rest of the league depends on who you ask. And people are asking, because the timing couldn’t have been more interesting.

Just weeks ago, ESPN reported that if Giannis were ever traded, his preferred destination would be New York. So, when he threw down a dunk and screamed those four words against the Knicks? You can see why the internet went into overdrive. After all, this is the same Giannis who said earlier this month that he might reconsider his future in six or seven months.

So when he shrugs at speculation and calls the rumors noise, it’s fair to ask whether he is calming the storm or fueling it in his own way. But when reporters brought it up, Giannis brushed it all aside.

“Who said that?” he asked, pretending not to know. “I don’t read that… right now I’m here representing my team. We beat the Knicks… I didn’t read that article. Try to stay away from all that. Rumors and speculation and trade and all this doesn’t concern me one bit.” And well, that’s Giannis for you. He thrives on simplicity. Still, it’s impossible to ignore how well-timed his dominance was.

Against the team he’s most linked to, he put up 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists on 71.4% shooting. Even Doc Rivers couldn’t hide his feelings before tipoff. “No, I think you guys [in New York] had a lot of drama. We had none. That’s actual factual,” the Bucks coach said. Even Giannis insists that saying those four words was all instinct.

“It’s just instincts. I’ve said the same, I’ve made the same comments in the past. Try not to read uh too much into things. I just play basketball,” he said when asked about the viral moment. But in the NBA, instincts often double as statements. Especially when the words happen to be, “This is my city.” But Giannis has always been a family man.

Be it his brothers, wife, or children. They’re his grounding force in a world that won’t stop spinning his name through trade rumors. “If it becomes a distraction for me, I don’t have time,” he told reporters with a modest laugh.

Are Giannis Antetokounmpo’s instincts helping him, or holding him back?

Antetokounmpo continued, “I have four kids… a seven-month-old, two-year-old, four-year-old, and five-year-old. I got my wife, my mother, my brothers, I gotta go to church, man. I ain’t got time for all that.”

Even earlier this week, after the game against Cleveland, Giannis showed just how unbothered he is even by other teams, as he said, “I’ve seen it all… Two bigs guarding me, guys picking me full court, double teams in the post, three or four guys in the paint. I’m pretty much prepared for everything. I just let my instincts take over.”

Giannis seems so disarmingly honest that you almost forget he’s one of the most dominant players alive. The Greek Freak is averaging 36 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists while shooting nearly 70% from the floor to start the season.

He became the only player ever to post 100+ points, 40+ rebounds, and 15+ assists in his first three games. And yet, amid all that, he finds time for his wife, kids, and church.

So, for all the discussion about where he might go next, Giannis keeps reminding the league of what he already is: a player that doesn’t need a new city to make noise. But will Milwaukee have enough to keep him convinced that this is still his city, too?

That answer, as always with Giannis, won’t come from headlines or hashtags. It’ll come from the next game or the next dunk that shakes the court. Because when Giannis says something’s his, he usually proves it.