Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, brother and teammate of superstar Giannis, has been given a one-game suspension without pay for headbutting Blake Griffin in Thursday's 140-99 drubbing by the Boston Celtics, via Cameron Tabatabaie of The Celtics Wire.
The incident occurred near the end of the game as Antetokounmpo and Griffin got a bit chippy. The breaking point was a hard foul committed by the veteran which would be ruled a flagrant 1. Antetokounmpo was quick to react and made contact. Griffin laughed the headbutt off, likely knowing what was to come. Thanasis was tagged with a flagrant 2 and ejected with just a 1.25 remaining.
NBA announced suspension for Thanasis Antetokounmpo for headbutting Blake Griffin Friday night pic.twitter.com/ff6tJbXaiG
— Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) April 1, 2023
Tensions were likely already high given the home-court embarrassment that was being dished out by the Bucks biggest roadblock to another NBA Championship. Milwaukee is still in the Eastern Conference driver seat with a one-and-a-half game lead over the Celtics. Giannis Antetokounmpo shot 11-of-27 from the field and scored 24 points in defeat. It is possible he reprimanded his older brother for losing his temper.
Thanasis has been with the team since 2019 in a back-of-the-bench type of role. This season has seen him play even more sparingly, though, at just over four minutes per game. His presence is obviously important to the Greek Freak, who is often seen palling around with his brothers.
He will be without his in-person support Sunday in what figures to be another big conference showdown against the Philadelphia 76ers. Yet another team who is trying to prevent the Antetokounmpo brothers from adding another ring to their display case.
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