MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo said Thursday he’s focused on getting healthy and helping the Milwaukee Bucks turn their season around, not on rumors about his future plans.
Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters for the first time since a Dec. 3 ESPN report indicated that he and his agent, Alex Saratsis, were talking with Bucks officials about whether he’s best suited to stay in Milwaukee or get traded. Antetokounmpo strained his right calf in a victory over the Detroit Pistons that night and hasn’t played since.
“There’s going to be conversations that are going to be made between (my agent) and the Bucks, and him and his other players, and him and other teams and other GMs, executives around the league,” Antetokounmpo said during the 24-minute media session. “It’s something that you can’t control. But, at the end of the day, I personally have not had the conversation with the Bucks. I’m still locked in, locked in on my teammates. Most importantly, locked in on me getting back healthy.”
The speculation regarding Antetokounmpo’s future has picked up as the Bucks have struggled through the last month. Milwaukee's 111-105 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night dropped the Bucks' record to 11-17. That includes a 2-9 mark in games Antetokounmpo hasn’t played.
Antetokounmpo missed four games with a left adductor strain last month and hurt his calf in his fourth game back from that injury. Antetokounmpo, who turned 31 on Dec. 6, believes his rapid return from the adductor issue may have led to the calf problem.
“Maybe it was a mistake of me coming back a little bit earlier, because once I come back, now you’re overcompensating,” Antetokounmpo said. “The only way you can pop your soleus is by overcompensating and then having an extreme amount of load or play a lot of games in a short period of time. Again, I think all of the things that I was thinking and trying to come back led to the incident that I had with my soleus.”
This is a critical season for the Bucks because of all the concerns about Antetokounmpo’s future.
ESPN reported before the season that the Bucks and New York Knicks engaged in trade talks regarding Antetokounmpo in August but never gained traction on a potential deal. Antetokounmpo spoke to reporters one day later and said he’s “locked in” with the Bucks but acknowledged the possibility he could eventually change his mind.
The idea that Antetokounmpo could request a trade has been the talk of the NBA ever since.
“This is the most I’ve been ever talked about in my career,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’m in my house with my kids and all that and I’m opening the TV and it’s like, ‘Oh, Giannis is going to the Memphis Grizzlies,’ or ‘Giannis is going to the Detroit Pistons.’ Which, hey man, I’m not going to lie, I’m the hottest chick in the game right now. No, I’m joking.”
Antetokounmpo said all this conjecture about his future is tough on his family and on the team. Antetokounmpo said he’s had informal conversations with his teammates to offer encouragement and reassurance.
“I’m never going to have a meeting with my teammates and sit everybody down and talk about like, ‘Hey guys, hey, if we don’t win I’m going to get out of here,’" Antetokounmpo said. “Like, come on. We’re grown … men. That’s not going to happen. They’re grown, too. I think they understand the deal. You’ve just got to give urgency to the team. Like, ‘Guys, this is like serious. Who are we trying to be? We’ve got to turn this around. We have time to turn this around.’ And you’ve got to have a little bit more urgency.
“I think I’ve had the conversation with the coach about it. I think I’ve had the conversation with individual players about it. I’ve been approached by teammates and asked about the rumors because it also might affect their own life and their own career. I’m straight with them, whatever that answer might be.”
When he spoke to reporters about his future back in October, Antetokounmpo expressed hope he wouldn’t have to address the issue for the rest of the season. Now he says he understands the topic is going to keep coming up because “when people see cracks, they see opportunity to get in through those cracks.”
But the nine-time All-NBA forward said he’s not thinking about that issue. He’s more concerned with returning to the floor and getting the Bucks to start winning consistently again.
“At the end of the day we’re fighting for our lives,” Antetokounmpo said. “Like, we’ve got to win a game. So, rumors won’t help us win a game. Or, you know, anything else. We’ve just got to focus on basketball.”
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Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo smiles from the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Angry protesters stormed the offices of Bangladesh’s two leading newspapers late Thursday after the death of a prominent activist in last year’s political uprising in Bangladesh. The crowds set fire to the building of one of the dailies, trapping journalists and other staff inside.
Hours later, the journalists and other staff were evacuated, and the fire was brought under control early Friday.
It was not clear why the protesters attacked the newspapers whose editors are known to be closely connected with the country’s interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Protests were organized in recent months outside the offices of the dailies by Islamists who blamed the newspapers for their alleged link with India.
Sharif Osman Hadi, a spokesperson for the Inqilab Moncho culture group, died in hospital in Singapore early Thursday evening after a weeklong battle for his life.
He was shot on the streets of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, last Friday while riding on a rickshaw. Two men on a motorbike followed Hadi and one shot him before they fled the scene. After days of treatment in Dhaka, Hadi was flown to Singapore in critical condition.
Authorities have said they identified the suspects and that the shooter had most probably fled to India — remarks that sparked a new diplomatic squabble with India and prompted New Delhi this week to summon Bangladesh's envoy to express its condemnation. Bangladesh also summoned the Indian envoy to Dhaka and sought clarification.
Hadi was a fierce critic of both neighboring India and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose 15-year rule of Bangladesh ended in last year's uprising.
The Inqilab Moncho group, formed after the ouster of Hasina last year, has been organizing street protests and campaigns denouncing Hasina and India. The country's Islamists and other Hasina opponents have blamed her government for being subservient to India during her rule.
Hadi had planned to run as an independent candidate in a major constituency in Dhaka in the next national elections which the country's interim government has announced for February.
Since Hasina's ouster, the Inqilab Moncho group has promoted anti-Indian sentiment in the Muslim-majority country. Hasina now lives in self-imposed exile in India.
Witnesses and media reports said hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Dhaka immediately after the news of Hadi's death, rallying on Shahbagh Square near the Dhaka University campus where many chanted slogans such as Allahu Akbar, or God is great in Arabic. There were also similar protests elsewhere in the country.
Later, a group of protesters gathered outside the head office of the country’s leading Bengali-language Prothom Alo daily in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar area. They then surged into the building, according to online portals of various leading media outlets.
A few hundred yards away, another group of protesters pushed into the premises of the country’s leading English-language Daily Star and set fire to the building, according to footage from Kaler Kantha, another mainstream newspaper.
Soldiers and paramilitary border guards deployed outside the two buildings but did not take any action to disperse the protesters. Security officials tried to convince them to leave peacefully as firefighters arrived at the scene outside the Daily Star building.
The blaze trapped the newspaper's staff working inside the building late Thursday. One of the Daily Star's journalists, Zyma Islam, wrote on Facebook that she was inside the building.
“I can't breathe anymore. There's too much smoke," she said.
By early Friday, the fire was brought under control.
The protesters Thursday night also targeted Chhayanaut, a leading cultural institution widely respected by liberals, in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi neighborhood.
Dozens of protesters were still at Shahbagh Friday morning and vowed to continue the protests.
Hadi's body would be brought to Dhaka from Singapore on Friday evening, authorities said.
The attack on Hadi is still being investigated, but the shooting has set off tensions. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recently expressed concerns over violations of human rights in Bangladesh.
Yunus, who took over three days after Hasina’s ouster in August 2024, promised in a televised address to the nation late Thursday to punish Hadi's killers.
He announced that Saturday would be a day of mourning and urged the citizens to stay calm.
Yunus' critics and Hasina's former Awami League party have blamed the interim government for the rise of Islamists in Bangladesh, a parliamentary democracy with a history of political violence.
The interim government has banned all activities by Hasina's party, including its running in the February election. Last month, a Bangladesh court sentenced Hasina to death on charges of crimes against humanity involving the uprising.
On Wednesday, anti-India protesters attempted to march toward the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, prompting it to close its visa section. After Hasina's ouster India stopped issuing tourist visas to Bangladeshis, citing security concerns, but continued giving visas for medical treatment in India.
On Thursday, protesters in the southwestern city of Rajshahi tried to march toward the office of a regional Indian diplomat. Police stopped both marches.
A protester reacts to the camera near the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper which was set on fire by angry protesters after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Bangladesh army stands guard at the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper after angry protesters set it on fire after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
A fire engine arrives at the premises of The Daily Star newspaper after angry protesters set it on fire after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
A girl rescues books from a shop near the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper which was set on fire by angry protesters after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Protesters shout slogans in front of the premises of the Prothom Alo daily newspaper after news reached the country from Singapore of the death of a prominent activist Sharif Osman Hadi, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
