Giannis Antetokounmpo may be the NBA’s Next Big Thing, but he isn’t immune to criticism.
Television cameras caught the Milwaukee Bucks star getting into a heated confrontation with assistant coach Sean Sweeney during Saturday night’s game against the Jazz in Utah. The incident happened during a timeout, with Antetokounmpo appearing to yell, “I’ll f— you up!” at Sweeney.
(Warning: Video obviously is NSFW.)
https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/934746789831462912
So, what caused the Greek Freak’s outburst? Antetokounmpo committed a bad turnover that led to a Derrick Favors layup just before the timeout and took out his frustrations by knocking over a chair on the Bucks’ bench.
https://youtu.be/WX_GUhoENmk
It’s possible Stevens called out Giannis for his lack of effort or his chair flip (or both), and the 6-foot-11, 222-pound physical specimen responded by challenging his coach to a fight.
We shouldn’t read too much into this scuffle, as players and coaches often have emotional exchanges in the heat of game action. But it’s not exactly a good sign for a team that dropped to 9-9 after Saturday’s 121-108 loss, Milwaukee’s third in its last four games.
H/t to Deadspin