On Monday evening, the Milwaukee Bucks improved to 7-4 on the young 2025-26 NBA season with a road win over the Dallas Mavericks in what was Nico Harrison's final game as the general manager of the franchise. It wasn't necessarily a pretty performance from the Bucks, but they were able to make enough plays down the stretch, thanks to another huge performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.
One scary moment occurred late in this game when Antetokounmpo was driving and was pulled down to the floor hard by Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford.
Here is the video of that play: https://t.co/uc8J8mEfwM pic.twitter.com/aCAAhUXyKO
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) November 11, 2025
Fans on X, formerly Twitter, were not thrilled with the play.
“This is egregious stuff. Giannis is going to end up getting hurt at some point this year due to it. He has always been officiated unfairly but this year is taking it to an entirely new level and it feels like the other teams and have noticed and are pushing the limits more,” noted one fan.
Others wondered what the Bucks should even do in this situation.
“I mean, what is the Bucks’ path forward here? Doc has talked about the officiating several times. Giannis has even talked about it. Something has to be done,” wrote another fan.
A unique situation for the Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the rare players in NBA history, alongside stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard, who is exceptionally hard to officiate because of how much stronger he is than everyone else. On the one hand, Antetokounmpo can use that strength to bully opponents around the rim, but on the other, opponents' attempts to stop him don't phase Antetokounmpo as much as they do other players, so the officials tend to let more slide.
Doc Rivers has indeed been vocal about the officiating of Antetokounmpo since taking over as the Bucks head coach, but at this point, it's unclear what exactly Milwaukee can do to fix this issue moving forward.
The Bucks will next take the court on Wednesday evening vs the Charlotte Hornets.
