The Milwaukee Bucks faced off against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night (June 7) at the Barclays Center. While the Nets came out on top and will thus be advancing in the NBA playoffs, the basketball organization is not completely happy with the team.
Bucks star player Giannis Antetokounmpo is notoriously known for taking his time with his free throw shooting. This has been particularly highlight during the playoff games, the most prominent reason being that he is not particularly a long free throw shooter. In this postseason, the two-time MVP, unfortunately, boasts the worst shots he's thrown in his postseason career.
He was fined in a recent game against the Miami Heat for a 10-second free throw violation in one of the very rare instances this violation is actually called. This led to opposing fans poking fun of Antetokounmpo, something on full display during Game 1 against the Brooklyn Nets.
The team put up a timer to track how long it took him to get free throws off, and according to Peter Botte of the New York Post, the NBA was not feeling this. An NBA source explained the league ordered the Nets to cut out the gamesmanship antics of the timer shown on the overhead scoreboard at Barclays during Monday's playoff game whenever Antetokounmpo was at the throwing line. The league is against teams inciting any type of taunting of other players by their fans, adds the source.
As opposed to this, the Nets projected a video of longtime fan Mr.Whammy extending his arms towards the Bucks star during his free-throw attempts during Monday night's Game 2 victory.
In the end, the Nets came as the winners of the first two games, so perhaps the gentle banter wasn't too bad.
[via]