Shaquille O'Neal tells Giannis to ignore suitors and stay with the Bucks

With another early playoff exit by the Milwaukee Bucks, rumours of NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo leaving town this summer have floated around. ESPN reported last month that this may be the first summer when Giannis has thought about playing in another city.

As with the past rumours surrounding Giannis, the story is that he is leaving Milwaukee to play for a big-market team.

But as Shaquille O'Neal explained during his recent appearance on the "Good Word with Goodwill" podcast, the grass is not necessarily greener playing in a big-market NBA city.

"I would tell him they're probably throwing in his face, bigger market. Doesn't matter, social media is the market now. You go to L.A., that's 50 per cent of your contract, goes to taxes, more pressure, more articles and more stress," Shaq pointed out.

O'Neal knows what he is talking about. He was the biggest superstar in the NBA while playing for the small-market Orlando Magic team. During the 1996 free agency, he left the Magic to sign a massive contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Orlando reportedly offered Shaq a measly four-year, $54 million deal that made "Diesel" look elsewhere. When Jerry West countered with a seven-year $120 million offer, O'Neal left the "Magic Kingdom" in favour of Hollywood. During that time, there was no maximum salary rule yet. Today, there is a super max rule, and according to Shaq, Giannis is already making that kind of money right now.

"But now, every market is the same," added O'Neal. "And not only that, he's making a super-max, so what do you need a big market for? Like, a big market is just to help you get more opportunities. If you're already making a super-max, you've already maxed out your opportunities. Now you just have to play and continue to be great and let the opportunities come to you."

Like Shaq, incoming 2025 Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony wants Antetokounmpo to remain in Milwaukee. During Melo's recent appearance on Paul George's podcast, he said that the Bucks have the right pieces around Giannis to win.

"They have the pieces, bro, everything you wanted. All right, granted Jrue Holiday was a major piece, alright, cool. You still actually have Dame Lillard back. That's a piece. You have to make that work. That's a big guard. That ain't no two wings," said Anthony during the recent episode of George's 'Podcast P' "You don't need three stars. You've got two already. This is how it was put together. This is the part that I don't like; everybody keeps making excuses about this when they have teams."

The problem for the Bucks is that Dame suffered an Achilles tear in Game 4 of the Bucks' first-round playoff series against the Eastern Conference champions Indiana Pacers and is expected to miss the early to mid-part of next season. Key players Brook Lopez, Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince are also free agents, so Milwaukee has a lot of work to do to convince Giannis to stay.