{"id":413610,"date":"2026-01-15T02:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413610\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T02:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T02:02:09","slug":"giannis-antetokounmpo-boos-own-fans-during-bucks-dismal-loss-to-timberwolves-milwaukee-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/413610\/","title":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo boos own fans during Bucks\u2019 dismal loss to Timberwolves | Milwaukee Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn\u2019t remember hearing boos from his home crowd during his brilliant 13-year career in Milwaukee. But it happened on Tuesday midway through the Bucks\u2019 139-106 loss to a Minnesota Timberwolves team playing without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been a part of something like that before,\u201d Antetokounmpo said after the game. \u201cSomething new for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-time MVP responded the same way he has whenever he\u2019s been booed on the road. After making a driving layup and drawing a foul in the opening minute of the third quarter, Antetokounmpo offered a thumbs-down gesture and booed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I get booed, I boo back,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing it all season.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Those boos poured down after Milwaukee trailed 76-45 at the break. Never before in franchise history had the Timberwolves built such a large half-time lead in a road game.<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo acknowledged the Bucks\u2019 effort was low on Tuesday. He also explained why the boos bothered him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for myself and my family. When people don\u2019t believe in me, I don\u2019t tend to be with them. I tend to do what I\u2019m here to do, what I\u2019m good at. … It won\u2019t change home or away,\u201d he said. \u201cBut yeah, I\u2019ve never been a part of something like that before and I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair. I don\u2019t. But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to tell them what to do and how they should act when we don\u2019t play hard. Or when we lose games, or when we\u2019re not where we\u2019re supposed to be. I don\u2019t think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on a basketball court after I\u2019ve been here 13 years. And I\u2019m basically the all-time leader in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bucks\u2019 latest loss came as they approach the midway point of a season that hasn\u2019t met their expectations.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee (17-23) are 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning the Bucks will have to rally just to reach the play-in round of the postseason. That\u2019s a precipitous fall for a team who have made nine straight playoff appearances and won the NBA<\/a> title in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Bucks\u2019 precarious position means they can\u2019t afford to have performances like the one they delivered against a short-handed Minnesota team Tuesday. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers blamed it on \u201cdead legs\u201d after the game, noting the Bucks had just returned from a four-game trip and are about to go back on the road for their next two contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cDead legs cannot be an excuse,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cWe have to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antetokounmpo noted that the improvement must start with him, though he delivered 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists on Tuesday. He was asked how the Bucks could step up in the second half to put themselves back in playoff position. They haven\u2019t won more than two straight games at any point this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we are not connected as much as we should,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cMaybe my voice is just a broken record and guys are just tired and guys might tend to do what they want to do. I don\u2019t know. But as a leader, it doesn\u2019t matter. Being a leader is the same thing as being a dad. You have to keep on being available, being consistent with your words and your actions over and over and over again. One day you hope the message is going to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Antetokounmpo says he will keep responding to boos the same way, no matter who\u2019s doing the jeering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thrive through adversity,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI thrive when people don\u2019t believe in me. Doesn\u2019t matter if I\u2019m on the road, if I\u2019m at home, if I\u2019m at my family dinner, if I\u2019m at a practice facility against my teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn\u2019t remember hearing boos from his home crowd during his brilliant 13-year career in Milwaukee. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-413610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}