Giannis Antetokounmpo has no doubt about his potential as he enters the next stage of his career following a blockbuster trade to the Miami Heat.
"I really do believe that, if not the best, I'm one of the best players in the world," Antetokounmpo said Monday at Heat media day. "I know when I'm at my best, when I'm locked in, when my body is right, I really do believe that I can dominate the game and I can impact the game in both ways, offensively and defensively. I think I've shown it over the years."
The two-time MVP who led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA title in 2021 officially starts the next chapter of his career Tuesday, when the Heat open training camp in Boca Raton, Florida. He was the centerpiece of a massive roster restructuring by Miami this summer, one that saw the Heat add Antetokounmpo, Klay Thompson, Bobby Portis and Tim Hardaway Jr., among others, to a core led by Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Davion Mitchell.
"This is all new for me," Antetokounmpo said. "I'm trying to learn defense. I'm learning offenses. I am trying to fit in the locker room with new faces. I'm trying to be able to play with players that I've never played before. It's all new for me. It's exciting.
"I know that I'm going to put in the work. Succeed or fail, I'm going to fail by working or succeed by working. And the goal is to win a championship. That's the goal."
The Kaseya Center, the Heat's home arena, is a construction site these days. Dozens of workers in hard hats, orange reflective vests and steel-toed boots are all over the building, putting the finishing touches on new club spaces and other amenities that will greet fans in a couple of weeks.
Seems fitting that the team has gone through a refurbishment of sorts as well.
"I feel like there's a synergy from a lot of people in the building about this opportunity and the appropriate time," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Some things in this league really are about alignment. And then we'll see how it all plays out once we get into the competition and the games and all that."
Antetokounmpo entered the NBA in 2013. His career totals to date: 21,531 points, 8,882 rebounds and 4,484 assists. The point and rebound totals are both fifth best in the NBA over that span, while the assist total is 13th best.
Those numbers are just part of the reason why the Heat consider him to still be one of the five best players in the NBA.
"We brought him here for a reason. He's here for a reason," Spoelstra said. "We want him to establish himself as in that conversation of being the best player in the league, and that can be debated in a lot of different ways. But we're not bringing him here to take a step back, so we'll try to maximize his strengths as much as we can and get him as comfortable as possible."
Antetokounmpo has had one issue adjusting to life in Miami. Iguanas were spotted recently in the backyard of his new home, which wasn't an issue he had to deal with in Milwaukee. That includes finding them around Antetokounmpo's new pool, which led to a viral moment over the weekend when the new Heat star posted about his family's encounter with the large lizard.
"If the iguanas keep on coming, I'll probably move, maybe get an apartment. No pools, no grass, none of that stuff," Antetokounmpo said. "When I came here in July, somebody told me they were kind of cute. They're not cute. They're not cute. It's scary. But I'll get used to it, hopefully. We'll see."
The Heat hope that's the worst of Antetokounmpo's acclimation issues.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.