There is no question that Giannis Antentokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks is one of the high profile NBA stars today, and most will keep tabs with every move he makes. Of course, that would include outbursts at times, which includes a certain situation back in December against the Memphis Grizzlies.
At the time, Antetokounmpo had just finished a poster on Grizzlies' Bruno Caboclo. In the video that can be seen below, the Greek Freak ended up trash-talking the Brazilian, something most feels was because Antetokounmpo was venting out his frustration when Greece fell to Brazil at the FIBA World Cup. And someone who took time to write about it was Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
Giannis posterized him then got T'd up for chirping at him pic.twitter.com/dEYlzKQypl — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 14, 2019
Curiously, it appears Antetokounmpo was not too pleased with the write-up even if the writer meant well. But of course, in this age of journalists trying to gain traction and hits (in online lingo), Nehm got burned for it. The 2019 NBA MVP said on Twitter that he would not be paying $6.99 to read the article, something that sent off mixed feelers.
Notable as it may seem, the obvious focus here is to single out an instance in the past. The fact that Antetokounmpo is a big name in the basketball world today would be interesting, although it was hardly something relevant. It is possible that the 25-year-old forward felt it made no sense to glorify such an action, something that needed not special attention.
For now, Antetokounmpo is one of many athletes forced to go into self-quarantine because of the coronavirus spread. Before the NBA decided to suspend league play, the Milwaukee Bucks owned the best record in the league. The resumption of NBA games remains unknown even if league commissioner Adam Silver initially called for a 30-day ceasefire.
But with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcing that indoor sports will have to wait for eight weeks, NBA action may be out longer than initially anticipated. The worst-case scenario would be to see the season scrapped entirely and declaring a champion by default. If win-loss records are to be made the basis, the Bucks would be crowned NBA champions - something that would not be completely fulfilling.
Though he did not mention anything about it, it is something that Antetokounmpo or any other competitive player/ organization would not want. It remains that working for something like an NBA title still has plenty of meaning, something that the COVID-19 is currently preventing any sport at the moment.
