Shams Finally Had To Admit Defeat And Fall On His Sword After Spending All Summer Pushing The Narrative That Giannis Was Potentially Leaving The Bucks
At this point of the NBA Calendar, now that things have flipped to September and training camps open later this month, I think we can declare that the "offseason" is pretty much over. There are a few outstanding free agents like Russell Westbrook and Ben Simmons who are still looking for new homes for 2025-26, but for the most part, the dust has settled.
Each summer is filled with "winners" and "losers", and while those titles are largely reserved for teams/players, if we were to expand that to media, I'm not sure there was a bigger offseason "loser" than Shams. It's been a brutal few months where it's been nothing but L after L after L, and sadly, it's all through his own doing. He's the one who told us this was going to be the craziest offseason we'd ever see (it wasn't). He was the one who told us things were going to get nuts at the Draft (they didn't). He was the one who went on SVP's SportsCenter and told us not to go to sleep at the start of free agency, implying that all hell was about to break loose (it didn't).
And while all that was pretty embarrassing, nothing compares to his obsession with pushing the "Giannis is leaving MIL" narrative. Under no circumstances was Shams going to stop trying to make that a thing, even though it was clearly never a thing. He doubled down. He tripled down. He brought it up in February, and then May, and then as recently as last month
It was clear he was "take committed" and would not rest until he spoke it into existence, just so he could be right. Meanwhile, Giannis himself openly talked about how he wasn't going to demand a trade, the Draft and free agency came and went and he still didn't do it, but even then Shams couldn't let it go. He could not admit defeat.
That was, until the other day. In the event you missed it given it came over the long weekend and you were probably out living your life like a normal person, let's have a look
That last sentence is very funny for a few reasons
1. It implies that Giannis' tenure in MIL basically came down to whether or not they gave his brother a contract
2. Phrasing it "to start the season" tells you there was real pain behind that tweet. He couldn't quite go all the way and admit it was all bullshit, which I found funny.
3. He clearly tried to bury that little nugget given that the tweet is long as hell, and he probably thought nobody would see it
I mean, think about it. When have we ever seen Shams try and bury such massive information before? News like that is usually its own tweet, but because it went against everything he tried pushing since February, it became a tidbit in Thanasis news. We're really to believe he had one foot out the door but it was the Thanasis deal that convinced him to stay? Be for real.
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Normally, I don't really give a shit about the Bucks or their fans, but this whole thing got to a point where even a Bucks hater like myself had to say enough is enough already. It's so lame how ESPN and other networks try and force these generational talents out of their homegrown teams and into bigger markets. Grow up. In this case, it's pretty clear that it was all coming out of thin air. It'd be one thing if Giannis was giving cryptic answers and whatnot, but all he's ever said is he's not leaving and that he wants to remain a Buck. Who knows if that changes, but perhaps we should wait for something like that to happen and then react, as opposed to the biggest NBA media personality on the planet basically trying to wish it into existence. The whole thing felt weird since it started up in February.
Now, is it possible given the Bucks roster that Giannis could one day get frustrated and maybe get the itch to look around? Perhaps. Anything is possible, I guess, but something tells me it's not coming in 2025-26. Definitely not as long as his brother is there.
What I'm looking forward to now is what happens during the season. Does Shams try and get this started back up again? If the Bucks hit a rough patch, will he use that as a green light to start this bullshit up again? Because from the outside looking in at this situation, you get the sense that Shams has zero sources close to Giannis, or whoever is feeding him that info has zero idea what they're talking about.
He tried to call his shot, and it was a swing and a miss. It happens. Why he was so obsessed with it, I have no idea. Once it didn't happen in June or July, he maybe should have backed off that take instead of quadrupling down in August, because once he hit send on that tweet the other day he had to know what was coming.
P.S.
In the spirit of fairness, if Giannis ever does demand a trade, I think Shams should be allowed to QT every Bucks fan that told him to go fuck himself and talk his shit. That's only fair.