Giannis Antetokounmpo has been doing everything he can to get the Milwaukee Bucks out of their current slump. He’s been carrying his team on the basketball court of late, which unfortunately, hasn’t had much impact as the Bucks suffered their fourth loss in five games on Monday against the Utah Jazz.
Off the court, the Milwaukee talisman has been trying his best to rally the troops. Antetokounmpo came out with a passionate plea for his entire team after Saturday’s loss to the Houston Rockets. Giannis’ statements, however, have now taken a life of its own.
Giannis Called Out Milwaukee Bucks Equipment Manager
At the end of the day, Giannis knows that the Bucks just have to be better. This was the exact message he had for his team — one that was addressed to pretty much every single member of the organization:
“We have to be better,” he said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “We have to play better. We have to defend better. We have to trust one another better. We have to be coached better. Every single thing, everybody has to be better. Everybody. It starts from the equipment manager. He has to wash our clothes better. The bench has to be better. The leaders of the team have to be more vocal. We have to make more shots. We have to defend better. We have to have better strategy. We have to be better…
“We have four months to get better, so let’s see.”
For some fans, the part that stood out for them was the fact that Giannis had to include the team’s equipment manager in his rant. It wasn’t a personal attack on the manager nor was Antetokounmpo saying that their clothes stink. The former back-to-back MVP was merely making a point about this being a collective effort from the entire team.
Well, some folks did not see it that way.
Jazz Troll Giannis, Bucks
For their part, the Jazz thought it would be a good idea to use Giannis’ statement to troll the Bucks after blowing them out. Utah’s social media team decided to share a seemingly innocuous GIF on Twitter to celebrate their 132-116 win:
JAZZ WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/9wd7b0tZa3
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 9, 2024
This isn’t as innocent as it seems. Apparently, this is the Jazz’s equipment manager, Adam Klauke. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was a veiled (and witty) shot aimed at Giannis and his previous comments.
Talk about adding insult to injury, right?
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