Giannis approves of Budenholzer hire: 'I'm excited to play for him'

Giannis Antetokounmpo has never been one to complain about his team's head coach. He reportedly even offered to intervene and try to save Jason Kidd's job in December.

But the Milwaukee Bucks still wanted to make sure he was comfortable with their top head coach candidate.

The Bucks hired Mike Budenholzer to be their new head coach Thursday, but not before arranging for him, Antetokounmpo, and Milwaukee wing Khris Middleton to have breakfast together, sources told ESPN's Ian Begley and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Antetokounmpo appreciated the Bucks' effort, and came away from the meeting feeling good about the team's hire.

"It meant a lot," Antetokounmpo said on ESPN's Draft Combine show Thursday. "Obviously I'm not the guy that's going to make the decision. We can reverse that, like the front office is not going to tell me how to shoot a jump shot. I do my job; they do their part. ...

"He's a great coach. We had a great conversation. We talked about the game plan, how he views me as a player, how he can help this team. I had a lot of tough questions for him. But it was fun. I'm excited to play for him."

Budenholzer will be the fourth head coach during Antetokounmpo's time with the Bucks, following Larry Drew, Kidd, and Kidd's interim replacement Joe Prunty. The Bucks have failed to win more than 44 games or advance past the first round of the playoffs since drafting Antetokounmpo in 2013.