Heat’s Giannis Antetokounmpo ready for new start with new number: ‘It’s fresh. It’s clean.’

Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready for a new beginning with the Miami Heat ... with a new number. After wearing No. 34 for the first 13 seasons of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, Antetokounmpo will wear No. 7 after being traded to the Heat this offseason. Why? “I think the reason that I really changed my number is because I feel like 34 holds so much weight and has so much history,” said Antetokounmpo, who left Milwaukee as arguably the best player in Bucks history. “Out of respect to the organization that drafted me and I played for 13 years, I decided to leave that number there and try to start a new chapter.” But No. 34 still influenced Antetokounmpo’s decision to wear No. 7 with the Heat. “I wore 34 because my mom was born in 1963. My dad was born in 1964, so I took the three and the four,” Antetokounmpo, 31, said. “If you add three and four, it equals seven. My mom was born April 7th. That’s the reason I changed my number [to No. 7].” Antetokounmpo will become the 14th different player who has worn No. 7 for the Heat, along with Rex Chapman, Mark Davis, Don MacLean, Mike James, Lamar Odom, Wesley Person, Penny Hardaway, Shawn Marion, Jermaine O’Neal, Justin Hamilton, Goran Dragic, Kyle Lowry and Kel’el Ware. The new number is just part of the adjustment Antetokounmpo is making in his move to Miami. That adjustment hasn’t always been easy. “Getting the phone call from Mr. Pat [Riley], he gave me a lot of closure of like, okay, now it’s a new beginning.” Antetokounmpo said. “I was being a little bit vulnerable with him. I was like, I know you guys think I’m this like big, tough beast, big plane, and all this stuff. But at the end of the day, I’m human, I have my emotions, and I was like, I’m scared. I’m kind of scared. This is different. “I’m going to work hard, and I’m going to do whatever I can for the team to respect me, and your guys’ culture and history. Hopefully I can leave a mark here, and hopefully it turned out for the best. Not hopefully, it will turn out for the best. So I think that’s when I kind of got closure from the Bucks.” During Antetokounmpo’s 13 seasons with the Bucks, he was named to nine All-NBA teams (seven first-team selections and two second-team selections) and five All-NBA Defensive teams (four first-team selections and one second-team selection). He was also named the NBA’s Most Improved Player for the 2016-17 season and the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season. But the highlight of Antetokounmpo’s career came when he led the Bucks to the NBA championship in 2021, averaging 30.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.2 blocks per game during that playoff run. He was named the 2021 NBA Finals MVP. The Bucks drafted Antetokounmpo with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft as an 18-year-old out of Greece. He spent his entire NBA career with the Bucks prior to this trade to the Heat. “Hopefully, I can leave my mark here in Miami and make No. 7 as legendary as No. 34,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s almost like kind of having a closure for me mentally and emotionally, just to have a closure from that number because it meant a lot to me. No. 7 seven looks good. It’s fresh. It’s clean. I saw some kids wearing it in the street, so I’m excited to create more moments with that number.” The Heat and Antetokounmpo hope one of those moments is an NBA championship. “You’ve got to have one or two or three guys and then put other great players around them, too,” Riley said of what it takes to win a title. “But you’ve got to start with the one. And I think Giannis is one that’s a pretty good starting spot because we also have other great players around him. And so it’s not a finished product, but we’re playing for it. We’re not waiting. We’re playing for it.”