Bucks news: Giannis Antetokounmpo says he wants to become a better leader for Milwaukee this season.

Bucks news: Reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo determined to get better as a leader for the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

After a heartbreaking loss in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo knows he has something to prove with the Milwaukee Bucks this season.

The Greek Freak is pretty much confident with who he is as a player. After all, he won the 2018-19 MVP award against tough competition from Houston Rockets superstar James Harden. However, he acknowledged that he has plenty of room for improvement -- especially as a leader.

“Mostly, you just gotta be more vocal. You gotta lead by example. You gotta be able to accept criticism by your coach, by your teammates, and be OK with it. That’s what a leader does,” Antetokounmpo said. “I know that my team knows who I am. They trust me. They know I’m going to put my body and everything I have on the line for this team. By doing that, everything else will take care of itself.”

Antetokounmpo added that while the Bucks’ primary goal is to win a championship, they need to focus on what they need to do right now rather than look too far in the future.

“We are going to have the same hunger, but what I want to say is: the Eastern Conference Finals, I’m not going to lie, it’s like six, seven months away from now. It’s about tomorrow. It’s about how can we get better tomorrow.”

Unlike the past five years, the NBA looks like an even playing field this season, as half of the teams in the league have a legitimate shot at winning the championship.

The Bucks are one of the top favorites to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy, but they might find it more difficult to win games this season compared to the previous one.

Most of the contenders have significantly upgraded their rosters in preparation for this campaign. The Bucks didn’t make a big splash this summer, though in reality, they didn’t have to.

Milwaukee has one of the five best players in the world in Giannis, and they have provided him with a great supporting cast as well.

In fact, they just showed everyone just how good they are in their showdown against the revamped Houston Rockets, a team that paraded two former MVPs in Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Bucks still won 117-111 behind Antetokounmpo’s triple-double of 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

From this point forward, every game counts, and it’s time for the Bucks to prove that last season was no fluke. It’s time for Giannis to show the rest of the opposition why he’s the reigning MVP.

So far, they’re off to a good start.

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