Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was brutally honest after the Bucks lost to the New York Knicks 116-94 on Friday. Antetokounmpo scolded a reporter and called out his teammates during his postgame interview scrum, per Legion Hoops’ X, formerly Twitter.
“Hey man, if you don’t wanna be here, you can leave,” Antetokounmpo tells the reporter in the video.
While there’s no word on what triggered the remark, Giannis appeared vividly frustrated at this individual. Whether that person looked disinterested or made a face at what he was saying is unknown. Either way, it triggered Antetokounmpo to snap at them.
Giannis finished with a team-high 24 points, 12 rebounds, a pair of steals and blocks in the defeat. Bucks star Damian Lillard added 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Tyler Smith scored 10 points off the bench as Milwaukee’s top-three scorers on the night were the only ones that scored in double figures.
“Did we compete the previous game? Yes. Did we compete the two previous games, Cavs and Cavs? Yes. Did we compete today? No… If you don’t compete you’re a** off, you’re not going to win the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “[You have to] at least give yourself a chance.”
Knicks center Karl Anthony-Towns’ 32 points led six Knicks players who scored in double figures. Mikal Bridges scored 17 points, Jalen Brunson added 15 points to go with his nine assists, and OG Anunoby chipped in with 14 points.
The Bucks earned their seventh loss in nine tries and are tied with the Toronto Raptors for second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce hit Bucks’ Doc Rivers with a reality check
Head coach Doc Rivers, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Milwaukee Bucks are off to a rocky start to the 2024-25 campaign. The 2008 Boston Celtics champions Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett addressed Rivers and the Bucks’ early regular-season troubles. On a recent episode of KG Certified, the two kept it real about their former head coach.
“Things ain’t looking good, I’ll tell you that,” Pierce said. “’Cause you bring Doc in — you replace Adrian Griffin — you bring Doc in because you feel Doc can get you over the hump.”
Even with the luxury of a fresh start of training camp and a preseason schedule in contrast to taking over midseason as Rivers did in 2023-24, the Bucks can’t find any momentum two weeks into the regular season.
“They not responding to him, P,” Garnett said.
The Bucks will attempt to bounce back against the champion Celtics on Sunday.
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