One of the most entertaining moments from Wednesday night’s showdown between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Toronto Raptors was when rookie Gradey Dick took a huge charge on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Well, at least it was fun to watch for non-Bucks fans because, in all honesty, there was nothing to smile about for Milwaukee supporters during Wednesday’s brutal blowout loss.
Gradey Dick Takes One From Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo
It goes without saying that Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most dominant forces in the NBA today — perhaps even ever. As such, it takes a very brave man to stand in front of the Giannis freight train whenever the former back-to-back MVP has a full head of steam heading to the basket.
This is exactly what Dick did on Wednesday. The rookie ended up forcing a turnover against Antetokounmpo, who was whistled for an offensive foul after running over the 19-year-old guard:
Gradey Dick a osé s’interposer face à Giannis en prenant une charge 👏
« Impressionnant, je pensais pas qu’il le ferait. »
— Siakam
« Heureusement qu’il n’a pas mis tout son corps, il s’est sauvé la vie. »
— Scottie
« Il a eu des couilles. »
— Darko— Toronto Raptors France 🇫🇷 (@RaptorsFRA) November 2, 2023
Raptors head coach Dark Rajakovic could not help but heap praise on his young rookie after his life-risking play against Giannis:
“He’s got some got some… um… guts,” Rajakovic said, via Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. “And I respect the hell out of him. He’s competing for us every single night and every single minute that he spends on the court is amazing for his development for our team.”
Raptors star Pascal Siakam echoed his coach’s thoughts on Dick’s hard-nosed attitude:
“Yeah that was impressive. I didn’t think he would do that,” Siakam said of Dick. “But I like Gradey. He’s being out there trying to do his best and trying to be in the right spots. Rebounding, taking open shots and that’s really all you can ask for. I think he’s taking up the challenge.”
NBA Fans Having Too Much Fun
The fans on Twitter absolutely loved what they saw from the young Raptors stud. In fact, it seemed like they were having a bit too much fun — at the expense of Giannis, of course:
@Raptors vs @Bucks #Dick coming up Huge in the Lane!
Cockblocking Giannis’ Deep Attempt pic.twitter.com/kFuaCnskBl— “Fasting” (@TexasSports19) November 1, 2023
Giannis ran into a hard DICK!! #wethenorth pic.twitter.com/xvtJvbfvhC
— NoYouCantTouchMyBeard (@jaypresident) November 1, 2023
Dick is hard
— Johnny Giunta (@JohnnyGiuntaa) November 1, 2023
GIANNIS JUST GOT DICK'D
— らずー (@rasmiez) November 1, 2023
That's one stiff Dick. Giannis and Milwaukee challenging thinking they got dicked but no way this is overturned. Instead Giannis got Dicked.
LMAO. The refs said Upon review GRADEY did get to the spot on time for the charge. They refuse to say Dick.
— Joe Piazza (@LAOJoe) November 1, 2023
For his part, though, the Raptors’ No. 13 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft admits that things could have turned out much worse for him:
“If he’d have been going full speed, I’d have been dead,” Dick said.
I guess this makes his heads-up play even more impressive.
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