Giannis Antetokounmpo told a Harvard University professor that if the Milwaukee Bucks underperform this season, it would make his decision on whether to stick with the team "a lot more difficult."

The unusually pointed language from the team's superstar came in a spring 2019 interview with Anita Elberse, a Harvard Business School professor who was researching a case study on the Bucks' turnaround and the challenges a small-market NBA team faces in retaining a superstar-level player.

UPDATE:'I’ve never used those words in my life': Giannis says Harvard misquoted him on decision to stay in Milwaukee

Antetokounmpo, who has emerged as one of the best players in basketball, likely will be eligible to sign a five-year, $253 million contract extension with the Bucks next summer, or to opt out and potentially become a free agent in 2021.

"I want the Bucks to build a winning culture," Elberse and her co-author, master's student Melcolm Ruffin, quoted Antetokounmpo as saying. "So far, we have been doing great, and, if this lasts, there's no other place I want to be. But if we're underperforming in the NBA next year, deciding whether to sign becomes a lot more difficult."

While that may sound like simple logic, it is rare to hear Antetokounmpo speak so directly about his thinking on the potential "supermax" deal he could sign with Milwaukee after this season.

Bucks co-owner Jamie Dinan doesn't think Antetokounmpo was misquoted, but said that researchers needed conflict for the study to be successful as a teaching case.

“I wasn’t in the room when [Antetokounmpo] said it,” Dinan said, “so I don’t know if they goaded him a little bit to kind of get some conflict.”

Antetokounmpo has said he won't discuss his contract during the season, and Bucks fans are biting their nails waiting to see if he'll sign on.

Contact Rick Romell at (414) 224-2130 or rick.romell@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RickRomell.