Against the Sixers, we had already seen Giannis Antetokounmpo refuse to leave the field, while his new coach, Adrian Griffin, wanted to replace him. Bis repeated last night, during the defeat (119-116) against the Celtics.
While he has just been whistled for a carry, and Boston leads by 14 points (84-70) at 5:58 from the end of the third quarter, the “Greek Freak” is called by his coach, who wants to put Bobby Portis in his place. We see the Greek shaking his hand at his coach to tell him to cancel the change.
But this one takes place and while Adrian Griffin extends his hand to tap his player’s hand, the latter avoids it and goes to sit on the scorer’s table. A discussion begins between the two men at the edge of the pitch…
A very visible challenge
Finally, Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the field 40 seconds later, in place of Brook Lopez. He hadn’t moved from the scorer’s table. Can the two-time MVP explain what happened? ” No “ he replied in a single word, while his trainer, for his part, had spoken out.
“He wanted to stay on the pitch, I wanted to allow him to breathe a little. That’s all “ explains the coach. “Then I told him to stay at the scorer’s table for one possession, and he went back on the field. »
Clearly, Giannis Antetokounmpo forced his coach’s hand. Nothing dramatic, but this visible questioning of the choices of Adrian Griffin, whose first position as “head coach”, is astonishing coming from a player who has always said he is respectful of the choices of his previous coaches, Jason Kidd then Mike Budenholzer.
