Giannis Antetokounmpo says the Bucks will be “back stronger and better next season.”
Milwaukee, owners of the NBA’s best regular season record, was eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals in six games by the Toronto Raptors.
Antetokounmpo admits that Kawhi Leonard‘s championship experience made the difference in the series.
Per The Athletic:
“You can tell from the way he was playing,” Antetokounmpo said when asked if Leonard’s experience made a difference in this series. “And not just in this series; in the previous series also. The way he plays — he has so much patience. He knows what he’s going to do.
“He has confidence in himself. And he has the experience. He’s been here before. He’s been to the Finals multiple times. He played well. He did everything that he could to help his team win.”
Leonard is the type of player who can carry a franchise to the NBA Finals and provides an example of what Antetokounmpo can become as he develops under Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee.
“I will say Giannis is going to get better,” Budenholzer said. “I like to think for us and to be excited about his future at 24. I mean, it’s just the easy narrative that this is part of Giannis’ stepping. But I think the thing that makes Giannis unique and exciting is in our minds, we feel like he’s going to get a lot better.
“At 24, some guys are — I don’t want to say they are who they are, and some of the great ones at 24 were the same at 30 and 32 and so on and so forth. Giannis, we feel like, has got a lot of room to grow.”
