"You can leave" - Giannis Antetokounmpo gets heated during postgame interview
Giannis Antetokounmpo lost it at someone off the camera during his postgame interview on Friday following the Bucks' seventh loss. Milwaukee dropped to 2-7 after the Knicks beat them 116-94. While doing his interview, Giannis passionately explained what the Bucks must do to improve while someone off-camera distracted him.
The Bucks' cameraman didn't record who it was, but Giannis' reaction caught fire. Here's what he said:
"Hey man, if you don't wanna be here, you can leave ... I'm being honest with you."
You can watch Giannis' reactions from 2:50 onwards.
It was just that kind of a night for the Bucks again, where their superstar player, who generally can keep his cool, didn't seem as relaxed.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks on 52.4% shooting. However, the rest of the roster couldn't get going. Milwaukee again struggled to match the other team's intensity defensively and returned to their unwanted habits, which seemingly had stopped in their 124-100 win on Thursday against the Utah Jazz.
Giannis Antetokounmpo questions the team's effort and level of compete
Giannis Antetokounnpo went off at his Bucks teammates for not putting up a solid effort against the Knicks. He questioned the team's intent after the game. Giannis even warned his teammates that if this continues, they might lose by 30 against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.
"If you're going to go out there and you're not gonna compete you're not going to win the game," Giannis said (via Bucks YouTube).
"Sometimes you compete your a** off and you don't want win the game. But at least you give yourself a chance. You know, we played great last night, we came to New York, we lost by 30.
"We don't compete. Are we okay with not competing? I don't know. I'm not okay with that s**t ... We got Boston in two days. We don't compete, we gonna lose by 30."
Giannis Antetokounmpo also complained about the Bucks' lack of ball movement on the offensive end. He wasn't happy with how Milwaukee spaced the floor, and the players weren't in the right place because of their lack of movement. The stagnant offense made it easy for the Knicks to guard the Bucks.
Giannis said he has to be 'honest' with his teammates amid this stretch as the Bucks continue to slump. He highlighted accountability for himself and others as the only way to move forward.