VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision)  - Composure. It's vital to possess it during games, but also after them.

It's important to have perspective, even after those gut-wrenching defeats that make it seem like your world is about to cave in.

Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece, the player we watch in wide-eyed amazement because of his full-court game, his dunking, rebounding and shot-swatting, gave us another reason to tune in on Tuesday night after his Milwaukee Bucks crashed out of the NBA playoffs in a 4-1 upset to Miami in the first-round playoff series.

He showed post-game poise.

Milwaukee,  the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, were gunning for a second NBA crown in three years, and third in club history, yet lost to a Heat team that had needed a play-in win against the Chicago Bulls just to compete against the Bucks.

Did the series defeat to Miami represent a failure for the Bucks, Antetokounmpo was asked immediately after the game?

He challenged the suggestion that Milwaukee had failed and did so in a calm, self-assured and respectful manner: "It's not a failure; it's steps to success. There's always steps to it."

Antetokounmpo is one of the most exciting players in basketball, a two-time NBA MVP. He's a player that we can't wait to see this summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, when Greece go for their first podium finish since 2006.

Everyone is talking about his post-game remarks.

Yes, many think the Bucks did fail. Yet others do not.

Spain legend Pau Gasol, who had his share of highs and lows in the NBA and recently had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers, tweeted his opinion.

The Bucks won 58 games in the regular season and lost 24 times. Then in the most important part of the season, they won one of five playoff games.

Milwaukee didn't meet their objective. They came up short of their goal. Is that the same as failing? 

"Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships," Antetokounmpo said. "The other nine years was a failure?"

Antetokounmpo, who hails from the land of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, waxed philosophical even more about failure and sports.

"It's a wrong question; there's no failure in sports," he said. "There's good days, bad days. Some days you're able to be successful, some days you're not.

YOU DON'T ALWAYS WIN. SOMETIMES OTHER PEOPLE WIN. AND THIS YEAR, SOMEBODY ELSE IS GOING TO WIN.

"Some days it's your turn, some days it's not your turn. And that's what sports is about. You don't always win. Sometimes other people win. And this year somebody else is going to win, simple as that."

If you're a parent, and your kid loses a big game, are you going to call it a failure? Or are you going to quote Antetokounmpo?

Where Antetokounmpo was incorrect is that he called it a "wrong question."

I'm glad the reporter asked it, because Antetokounmpo's answer has given us something to think about.

Jeff Taylor
FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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