Nba: “You have failed again”, Antetokounmpo’s answer to the journalist is applause

“Defeat is not failure.” It is a sports lesson that Giannis Antetokounmpo, NBA champion and star of the Milwaukee Bucks, broadcasts after the scorching elimination in the playoffs of the American championship. Coming out of the final round of the NBA as the number 1 seed as happened to the Bucks, who lost game 4 and game 5 of the series and were eliminated when they were one step away from victory, can hurt a lot and generate nervousness but the leader natural of the team, Antetokounmpo, felt compelled to put his face on it with a press conference that garnered much acclaim on social media, becoming a widely shared story. Antetokounmpo has been questioned despite playing with a back injury, the extent of which will be known in a few days. He scored 38 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and tried hard to give the Bucks the victory. But he was lacking from the line, with the clock stopped, even in the final: 10 out of 23. And this meant that he was criticized and that he wanted to respond in the post-elimination press conference. A particularly harsh answer, but which can also be used as a lesson for other players who find themselves in a situation that he knows of “failure”. Just the post-match question about a perhaps bankruptcy season charged Antetokounmpo, who snorted and shook his head: “You asked me the same question last year, Eric”, addressed to The Athletic journalist. “You happen to get a promotion every year at your job? I don’t think so, so you consider your job a failure whenever it doesn’t? and many other things. It’s not a failure, but it’s a necessary step to try to win.” And the solo of the Bucks player continues: “Michael Jordan was 15 years in the NBA, he won six titles: the other nine years were they a failure by chance? Are you really telling me this?”. And more broadsides signed by Antetokounmpo: “Why do you ask me this question? You have to understand that in sport there is no logic of failure. There are good days and bad days, sometimes you manage to win and other times you don’t. There are moments in which you understand that it’s the turn and others instead you have to step aside: it’s the basic logic of sport, you can’t always win”.