How much longer can Giannis stay after being booed by the home fans?

The Bucks have recently seemed like they are about to fall apart.

Losing away to a Nuggets team without Jokic was only the start, then they got absolutely dominated at home by the Timberwolves missing Edwards and Gobert. Seriously, dominated—down 18 points in the first quarter and 13 in the second, with garbage time beginning before halftime. If Giannis ends up leaving, this match will surely be a pivotal moment in his Bucks journey.

At halftime when players returned to the locker room, Giannis was loudly booed by the home crowd, showing no respect. After scoring a 2+1 early in the second half, Giannis sat on the floor and booed back at the fans, giving two thumbs down in retaliation, an eye for an eye.

After the game, Giannis said: “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, but it won’t change anything. I always grow through adversity. When people don’t believe in me, I work even harder. I play for my teammates, for myself, and for my family. When people doubt me, I tend to distance myself from them.”

“I’ve played basketball with the Bucks for 13 years, and I believe no one has the right to tell me how I should play on the court. Plus, I basically hold every record here.”

It’s impossible for Giannis not to feel emotional; he has been here so long, growing from a kid from Greece into the greatest player in Bucks history, leading the city to a championship. And now, the people here have started booing him.

Interestingly, just days after Giannis publicly stated he would never request a trade, he received boos from the fans. Of course, compared to the boos, the Bucks’ near-collapse is the root of all their problems and conflicts.

In the game following the Timberwolves blowout, which was today against the Spurs, the Bucks collapsed once again. In the first quarter, apart from Giannis, the rest of the team barely scored. The Bucks made 5 of their first 15 shots, with Giannis going 4 of 5, while the others combined for just 1 of 10. Of the Bucks’ first 17 points, 14 came from Giannis alone, who single-handedly took the lead, only for the team to lose it again once he sat out.

Being down 13 at halftime was tolerable, but in the third quarter, the Bucks were outscored by 24 points, marking their delayed but inevitable collapse. During this time, Giannis still scored efficiently every game with 20 or 30 points, but the rest of the team was completely out of form.

Coach Bud started small forwards Porter, Rollins, and AJ Green in the backcourt, and the defense was utterly terrible. On offense, Porter and Rollins no longer showed the dazzling performance they had at the season’s start. Today, Rollins shot 2 of 8 for 6 points, and Porter was 0 of 9, scoring nothing.

These two guards were supposed to be the second and third scoring options after Giannis, but recently they have completely slumped. Since the game against the Warriors on January 8, Rollins hasn’t had a shooting percentage above 36% in any match. Porter went 4 of 17 against the Nuggets and scored zero points today.

If you look closely at the Bucks’ roster, you’ll see their problems run deep. Rollins and Porter are essentially castoffs from other teams. Turner has declined since joining the Bucks, and as a center, his efficiency around the basket is worrying.

Kuzma struggles to perform efficiently when given shooting opportunities but completely disappears without the ball. Kofi and Anthony are also essentially rejects. The highly anticipated Trent has lost his starting spot midseason. Of course, the team still has two players named Antetokounmpo.

Coach Bud has long proven his lack of capability. The alley-oop game-winner play was actually drawn up by Giannis himself. Bud’s own play design was directly rejected by Giannis, showing how much respect Giannis has left for him.

The Bucks now face not only a lack of competitiveness but also the reality that they can’t even reach the Eastern Conference’s top ten play-in spots. Currently, the Bucks stand 17-24, ranked 11th in the East, 2.5 games behind the 10th-place Bulls.

At the same time, the Bucks are practically a team without a future. They don’t control their first-round pick until 2031, have no assets for tanking, and their management’s eye for the draft is unlikely to yield immediate impact players.

To sign Turner, they waived Lillard, whose remaining $113 million contract is spread over five years, with about $22.5 million in dead salary each season, locking the team out of strengthening possibilities. Crucially, Turner’s performance this half-season hasn’t justified such a cost. Bringing in Turner was meant to appease Giannis, but now it’s backfiring.

Now and for the foreseeable future, the Bucks seem dead in the water with no signs of a turnaround. Giannis is already 31 years old and unlikely to improve beyond his prime, and his availability has been an issue these last two seasons. After considering all options, the Bucks may have only one path left: trading Giannis.

Using Giannis’s remaining value to gain sufficient rebuilding assets, like the Thunder did, could lead the Bucks to success as well. The Trae Young trade example shows us that if a rift has formed, acting quickly is the best solution.