Last year, Giannis Antetokounmpo made headlines when the Milwaukee Bucks superstar returned to the court to shoot free throws after he went 4-for-15 from the charity stripe in their game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Antetokounmpo’s post-game free throw practice however didn’t wind up without some sort of turmoil. During his routine, Antetokounmpo had an argument with Sixers center Montrezl Harrell and was later on seen tossing down a ladder that was blocking the hoop.
In his interview at the 48 Minutes podcast with Ross Geiger, Giannis now revisited the incident and recalled Montrezl Harrell along with a member of the Sixers’ coaching staff taking the ball away from him while saying “No, you’re not shooting here”.
This is when Giannis went back to the locker room to get his own ball to shoot free throws. Upon returning to the court, arena staff placed a ladder in front of the basket. While Antetokounmpo tried to move the ladder, arena staff dragged the ladder right back were it was, leading to Giannis pushing the ladder away in frustration.
“It’s a crazy story. What I did wasn’t right. After a disappointing game you take an extra shot. I was shooting and not bothering anyone. They came and took the ball out of my hands. It’s like I’m a little kid. They even went to the other basket and shot.
I can’t imagine that happening to another player. I went to the Sixers locker room and asked for two balls. They gave it to me and I went out on the floor again. Someone saw me and still put up the ladder. They have cut the video. Before pushing the ladder I politely asked him to move it. He said “No” in exasperation.
“Lord please I literally have two shots left.” I’m not leaving until I put 10. I moved it a bit and went to shoot the shots. When I got there I saw him putting it back again. That was disrespectful. This feeds my family. I pushed the ladder and it almost hit Liam (his son) in the head. If you watch the video, Mariah is further back. Can you imagine hitting Liam? I couldn’t live with that. But they showed the part where I was bad. They didn’t know the whole story. After the incident, Coach Rivers called me and apologized. It’s a matter of politeness. But everything is fine.”
