Giannis Antetokounmpo was probably feeling the best he has ever felt in the NBA having a terrific start to Bucks’ 2022-23 campaign, even without Khris Middleton by his side.
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But the party came to an end last week when Trae Young and Co handed the Greek Freak and his team, the first ‘L’ of the season. The 2x MVP was in and out of the line-up around that time and has looked a little off since then.
Last night, his 24p-14r-4a couldn’t help his team get through Joel Embiid’s Sixers and the 7ft forward did not look too cool after the game finished 110-102 in Philadelphia.
But just before that incident he got into a back-and-forth with the Sixers’ Montrezl Harrell.
Montrezl Harrell reveals the reason for the back and forth with Giannis Antetokounmpo
Despite the tremendous aggression in his game, it is very rare for Giannis to behave the way we just witnessed. The reason must be him going 4/15 from the charity stripe and his team losing the game by just 8 points.
Agreed, he is one of the best players in the league, he can have the privilege of shooting all the free throws he wants after the game in any arena he wants even if the workers insist on closing it up.
But he cannot do it when a home team’s player wants the hoop to himself. Even if he’s a bench player. And that’s what Harrell made perfectly clear when he took to Twitter after the incident and explained exactly why he snatched the ball from the 2021 Finals MVP.
Makes sense!
Giannis didn’t hold back on Harrell
One would expect Giannis to realize his mistake and be humble about it, if not apologetic. But one of the most humble players of the league doubled down on the mess he created and threw a massive disrespect toward the former sixth man of the year.
“I’ve never tried to disrespect anyone in any way, shape, or form,” Antetokounmpo said an hour after the incident as per ESPN. “I feel like today is just an unfortunate event that took place.”
“I respect every player,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said, but then went totally opposite of what he said and threw some shade on Harrell, “I know some players don’t play now, they want to get some extra work, want to work on their skills and stuff, and I said, obviously we can shoot together. They said, they told me no, this is their court, I should leave. I was like, I have three more free throws, I was at seven, I want to try to make 10 in a row. I shot my eighth one. Came and took the ball away from me, and I was very surprised. I feel like it’s very unprofessional. I would never take the ball away from a professional athlete when he’s trying to do his job.”
Let’s hope this anger and disrespect from Antetokounmpo ends here because we would never like to see this side of his ever, not off the court for sure.
But we are ready and already excited for what he is going to bring on the court in the next game, and also the game when they face the Sixers again.
