Antetokounmpo ejected for head-butt
Giannis Antetokounmpo not only took home the National Basketball Association’s biggest individual honour – the Most Valuable Player – last season, but he is also in the running to win it again this year. He led the Milwaukee Bucks to first place in the Eastern Conference for the second consecutive year, as they look to finally reach the NBA Final.
However, on Tuesday reporters weren’t interested in talking about Antetokounmpo’s impressive season thus far during the Bucks’ postgame press conference. All they were interested in was what possessed him to head-butt Moritz Wagner of the Washington Wizards during their game. The 25-year-old was ejected from the first half after being nailed with a flagrant foul two.
“Terrible action,” Antetokounmpo told members of the media following the game, via ESPN. “If I could go back, turn back time and go back to that play, I wouldn’t do it. But at the end of the day, we’re all human, we all make mistakes. I think I’ve done a great job all year, in my career at keeping my composure and focus on the game, but at the end of the day, we’re human and make mistakes. But at the end of the day, you learn from it, keep playing good basketball and keep moving forward.”
Antetokounmpo hasn’t been ejected from a game since April 1, 2018 against the Denver Nuggets and he understands how detrimental it is for his team if he is unable to play. Fortunately for the Bucks, the game was a meaningless one for them as they have already solidified top spot in the East and are now preparing for the playoffs.
He admitted after the game that he had nothing personal against Wagner and that he just lost his cool.
“I don’t have nothing against Wagner, it wasn’t just him,” said Antetokounmpo” It was just like, in my mind, all these games I’ve played with guys hitting me, I lost it for a second.”
There were doubts whether the forward would even play against the Wizards on Tuesday, but head coach Mike Budenholzer thought it was important that his star continued to get some minutes in and thought the entire experience could turn out to be a positive one for the youngster.
“This is nothing. Giannis has been dealing with this for a long time,” Budenholzer said following the game, via ESPN. “He’s a MVP. People are gonna try him. He normally is phenomenal, and today was a slip-up. I think it’s probably, in some ways, it could be one of the best things that happened today, and it’s a learning moment. We’ll all remember how important it is that we’ve got to keep our cool.”
Milwaukee ultimately won the game regardless of the ejection, beating the Wizards 126-113 to improve their record to 56-16. The Wizards have already been eliminated from the playoffs and will depart the NBA bubble once the final regular season games are played out.
The Bucks will take on the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs, with the Magic clinching the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee will play the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday afternoon in their final regular season game of the year.
