When a superstar misses a match, it’s not uncommon to see him working overtime after the match. That night, after the loss to the Sixers, Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to make free throws. Logical since he had just signed an awful 4 out of 15 on the line! The problem is that Montrezl Harrell was passing by, and he wanted to prevent him from shooting. To the point of taking the ball!
“I respect all the players, and I know that some players who aren’t playing at the moment want to do extra work, want to work on their qualities and all that, and I said, obviously we shoot together” says the Greek. “They refused, and they told me it was their land and that I had to leave. I said to myself, I have three free throws left, I was at seven, I want to try to make ten in a row. I fired my eighth pitch. They came, took the ball from me and I was very surprised. I think it’s not very professional. I would never take the ball from a professional sportsman trying to do his job. »
Giannis does not insist, returns to the locker room, and it is his brother Thanasis who comes to explain himself to Harrell. He told him to “get out of there”. Good atmosphere…
Imbroglio around a stepladder
The story could have ended there, except that Giannis is stubborn, and he decides to return to the field to shoot his two more shots, to reach the ten. Except that employees of the room had taken possession of the floor, and they were about to remove the baskets. The rest is Giannis who tells.
“I went back there to shoot and there was a stepladder in front of me” says Antetokounmpo. ” I asked ; ‘Can you please move the stepladder? And they said, ‘No.’ I repeated, “Can you move the stepladder?” They said, “No”. I then said, “Guys, I have two more free throws to shoot, can you move the stool? And they said again: “No”. »
“In the end, people will say what they want from the images”
Furax, Antetokounmpo approaches the basket, and moves the stepladder. But the employees put it back in place! So the Bucks star throws him to the ground, and he leaves to finish his session.
“I don’t know if I should apologize because I don’t feel like I did anything wrong, except the stepladder fell. I think it’s my right to practice after a horrible night at the free throw line. I think anyone in my position, who had a night like mine, would go and work on their free throws. And if they don’t, they don’t care about their game.”
We explain that everything was filmed, and that we see him pushing the stepladder to the ground…
“In the end, people will say what they want from the images. Did I want to knock down the ladder? Absolutely not. I think I pushed him, he got stuck and he fell. But people are going to get what they want out of it… I know what happened. I think there are cameras all over the room. We can show everything about the incident, from the guys taking the ball away from me to the guys getting in my way. I don’t want to go into all those details. »
