Giannis Antetokounmpo had a busy day on the floor against the Boston Celtics yesterday, doing his best to save the game with 43 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists. The Milwaukee Bucks still went down 107-113. And, in the heat of things, while chasing the game, there were moments when Giannis seemed to have crossed the fine line of sportsmanship. Did he play dirty?
Advertisement
One of the incidents in question came in the third quarter. Giannis was caught with his foot in Jayson Tatum’s landing area while closing out the Celtics superstar on a corner three. JT rolled his ankle after landing awkwardly. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured.
Jeff Teague came out today supporting the 29-year-old, saying Giannis doesn’t have a reputation for doing shady things on court.
“I’m not gonna say it’s a dirty play. I don’t think Giannis is a dirty player. I mean, when you play basketball, you make a conscious effort to move your foot out the way,” Teague said, on his Club 520 Podcast.
As a former teammate of Antetokounmpo, the 2021 NBA Champion doesn’t believe that the Milwaukee superstar was trying to hurt Tatum.
Another instance occurred when Giannis extended his arm for a handshake with Jaylen Brown after the two had tussled for a tough basket. The Celtics star reciprocated the gesture, only to see the Greek Freak pull his hand back and run it through his hair. Giannis had a smile on his face, indicating that he was just having fun.
But that didn’t sit well with Brown.
Later, in the fourth quarter, Giannis was elbowed by Brown. The contact was deemed excessive and unnecessary, but the 28-year-old claimed that it wasn’t intentional or in response to the fake handshake prank.
Teague had is on take on the matter: “After that he [Brown] elbowed him, you could see there’s something there…JB handled it cool.”
Though Teague downplayed the matter, things were still simmering after the match with Brown throwing some harsh words at Giannis.
Brown called Antetokounmpo a “child”
Brown did not have a great game against the Bucks. Although his team won, he only had 14 points with 4-13 from the field and 1-5 from the three-point range. He was struggling on the floor, and Giannis’ prank irked him further. After the game, JB said, “Giannis is a child. I’m just focused on helping my team get a win. And that’s what we did tonight.”
Brown believes in keeping his serious face on throughout the game. But Giannis has a different philosophy. During the post-game presser, when he was made aware of JB’s comment, he was shocked.
“We always joke around with the flow of the game. It’s something that I do to my kids, I play around. This is who I am. I play the game with fun, joy,” said the Greek Freak.
He heaped praise on the Celtics star, calling him a great competitor. As for his attitude towards having fun, Antetokounmpo said, “If I have another opportunity, I’ll do it again.”
Hopefully next time, JB won’t take it the wrong way.
