The biggest domino of the 2025 NBA offseason that needs to fall is the decision of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. Rumors are that he is weighing requesting a trade from the Bucks for the first time in his career, and the Los Angeles Lakers have been seen as a reported team he might be interested in joining.
Because of that, every team on Giannis’ theorized list — and every team that wants to deal with those teams — is on hold until he decides what he wants to do. This makes it, also, the most important conversation topic in league circles. Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal once had to make his own major decision, signing with L.A. after leaving the Orlando Magic.
So Shaq is one of the few people that knows what Giannis might be feeling right now, and he gave some surprising advice to the superstar, via Yahoo Sports:
“I would tell him that, probably, a bigger market doesn’t matter. Social media is the market now. Giannis has made a name for himself on social media. If you go to L.A., 50% of your contract goes to taxes, more pressure and more stress. Being that he’s in control of that ship, he should go upstairs and be like ‘I want to see all the free agents, I want phone numbers and I want to talk to them.’ He should bring people to him. When I was coming up, it was small market was too small, probably need to go to a big market. But now, every market is the same. Nobody cares what city you’re in, this ain’t the ’90s.”
Shaq makes a good point that market sizes don’t matter the way they used to because of the internet and social media. He also makes a strong point that coming to the Lakers would be a sharp increase in pressure, stress and expectations playing alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James for the league’s most popular franchise.
However, Antetokounmpo has hinted in the past that market size might matter to him, and he may want to play where the pressure is the highest. Of course, none of this will be known until Giannis is the one to say it. And the league will continue to wait anxiously for him to do that.
Luka Doncic describes pros and cons of L.A. with the Lakers
Luka Doncic’s life turned upside down this past season when he was unexpectedly traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers.
Players of Doncic’s caliber don’t typically get traded without requesting it, much less in the middle of a season. Making the trade even more tough to process for the Slovenian star was that he had just closed on a new house in Dallas that he expected to be his forever home, which made sense considering he had just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals a year prior.
The NBA is a business though and Doncic found that out the hard way. But ultimately, that trade may have been the best thing for his career as he now gets to play for one of the most historic franchises in sports in one of the biggest cities and markets in the world.
Doncic did not get much time to adjust after the trade, but on the most recent episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with LeBron James and Steve Nash, he discussed what he likes and dislikes about his new city so far.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
