While Giannis Antetokounmpo has shut down trade rumors by reaffirming his commitment to Milwaukee, his brother Thanasis isn’t ready to let the media off the hook. In the aftermath of weeks of nonstop speculation, Thanasis has taken direct aim at the credibility of NBA insiders—most notably ESPN’s Shams Charania—questioning how the reporting around Giannis spiraled so far out of control. What was framed as informed analysis, he suggests, felt more like manufactured drama.

The Bucks superstar dominated headlines throughout the trade window, with daily updates linking him to nearly every major contender. Yet despite the noise, Antetokounmpo ultimately stayed put, leaving many of those reports looking exaggerated at best. Now, with the deadline chaos in the rearview mirror, Thanasis is pushing back against the very voices that fueled it.

“I wanna start with a question, what happened to integrity? If I hear one more time about ‘his camp said,’ We are his camp, like we literally talk to nobody,” Thanasis said in his podcast speaking on the media speculations. “I don’t understand this notion of his camp. Is this an American thing? Is this like ‘oh, his people said, and this other person said.’ I am all for sources, and I understand the media.

I understand the job. I just want to say something about integrity. It goes both ways. Let’s say the guy gets traded. Do you understand what this whole thing does for a player? All people, in general, are driven by speculation. It’s like manipulating the market like literally that’s what’s happening.”

Over the last few weeks and for most of the month, there have been innumerable Giannis trade rumors circulating across the internet, as if it is an agenda the media has against the Greek Freak and wants him to move somewhere else. This happened even after Giannis confirmed his decision to stay in Milwaukee and not ask for a trade.

During this saga, former NBA star Kendrick Perkins urged Giannis to go on strike to force his way out of Milwaukee. “Right now, this is on the Milwaukee Bucks. Somebody needs to actually call the police, hello! Order the man an investigation because they’re holding him hostage,” Perkins said on his appearance at ESPN’s NBA Countdown ahead of the trade deadline.

This is something Thanasis cleared up in his podcast, where he suggested that one needs to show up to work even if things are not alright, rather than going on strike to work their way out. He questioned the integrity of the people who urged Giannis to put pressure on the Bucks’ front office, disrupting the team’s flow to secure a trade.

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“When you don’t like something, you don’t show up, you don’t go to work, that’s what you do? I thought we were raised, even when something’s bad, we show up, and we work, and we do it with grace. We don’t go out there, ‘oh it’s not working, let me just not show up.’ Who does that? What is the notion that’s how we should act as if it’s some norm? It’s not, but we made it a norm. So when somebody does the normal thing of doing his job, it looks like it’s not the norm. To me, that is a lack of integrity,” Giannis’ older brother added in his defense.

This isn’t the first time a superstar’s family has fired back at relentless trade speculation and media hype. Back in 2017, after Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City for Golden State amid brutal backlash, his mother, Wanda Durant, went on ESPN’s First Take to fiercely defend her son against critic Stephen A. Smith, calling out the personal attacks on KD’s character as unfair and over-the-top.

For now, he is staying with the Bucks until the end of this season, and a further decision on his future will be made during the summer.

Giannis Antetokounmpo expresses his decision with a cryptic clip after not getting traded

Right after the trade deadline, Giannis Antetokounmpo came up with a cryptic clip from the famous movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street” with the caption: “Legends don’t chase. They attract.” It was his way of announcing to the NBA fraternity that he is not going anywhere, even if this is a temporary situation, as there will be a strong market for the 31-year-old in the summer, when teams will be in a much better position to chase him.

The Bucks are also expecting a bidding war for the two-time MVP, and that’s why they didn’t let go of him during the trade deadline.

Many NBA teams, like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, and New York Knicks, will be in the market for Giannis during the offseason.

However, Giannis has always treated the Bucks with utmost respect, and in a conversation with Milwaukee beat reporter Erik Nehm, the Greek Freak once again cleared his commitment to the city and the team. “When you open my kids’ passports, it says Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” he explained.

“I had four kids in the span of the last five years in this city. My dad is buried in this city.” The roots extend even further, as he noted: “I’ve built a house for my mom 10 seconds away.”

All of this suggests much more than what meets the eye on social media. He has previously shown what the city and the team mean to him, beyond the tangible connections, and that’s why they chose him in the 2013 NBA Draft, and that’s why he guided the Bucks to their first NBA Championship in 50 years in 2021. At this point, he is focused on recovering from the calf strain before the All-Star week.