139-106 loss<\/a> to a Minnesota Timberwolves team that was playing without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never been a part of something like that before,\u201d Antetokounmpo said after the game. \u201cSomething new for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two-time MVP responded the same way he has whenever he\u2019s been booed on the road. After making a driving layup and drawing a foul in the opening minute of the third quarter, Antetokounmpo offered a thumbs-down gesture and booed back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I get booed, I boo back,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing it all season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those boos poured down after Milwaukee trailed 76-45 at the break. Never before in franchise history had the Timberwolves built such a big halftime lead in a road game.<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo acknowledged the Bucks\u2019 effort was low Tuesday. He also expanded on why the boos bothered him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cBut everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do. I\u2019m not going to tell them what to do and how they should act when we don\u2019t play hard or win, or we lose games or we\u2019re not where we\u2019re supposed to be. And I don\u2019t think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on the basketball court after I\u2019ve been here 13 years and I\u2019m basically the all-time leader in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bucks\u2019 latest loss came as they approach the midway point of a season that hasn\u2019t met their expectations.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee (17-23) is 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning the Bucks would have to rally in the second half just to reach the play-in round of the postseason. That\u2019s a precipitous fall for a team that has made nine straight playoff appearances and won the NBA title in 2021.<\/p>\n
The Bucks\u2019 precarious position means they can\u2019t afford to have performances like the one they delivered against a short-handed Minnesota team Tuesday. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers blamed it on \u201cdead legs\u201d after the game, noting the Bucks had just returned from a four-game trip and are about to go back on the road for their next two contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cDead legs cannot be an excuse,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cWe have to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo noted that the improvement must start with him, though he delivered 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists on Tuesday. He was asked how the Bucks could step up in the second half to put themselves back in playoff position.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying hard,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cPlaying the right way. Playing selfless basketball, which we don\u2019t. I don\u2019t know. I really don\u2019t know. Those three things are important. I know that they\u2019re important for you to win. Right now there\u2019s so many things that we can do better. Let\u2019s just start by, \u2019Can we just play harder? Can we just play the right way? Can we create advantages for the next player? Can we just play for our teammate, play for the team, play for ourselves?’ Let\u2019s start with that, and I think everything will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antetokounmpo has offered similar messages after other losses this season, but the Bucks still haven\u2019t put it all together. They haven\u2019t won more than two straight games at any point this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe we are not connected as much as we should,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cMaybe my voice is just a broken record and guys are just tired and guys might tend to do what they want to do. I don\u2019t know. But as a leader, it doesn\u2019t matter. Being a leader is the same thing as being a dad. You have to keep on being available, being consistent with your words and your actions over and over and over again. One day you hope the message is going to go through.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Antetokounmpo says he will keep responding to boos the same way, no matter who\u2019s doing the jeering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thrive through adversity,\u201d Antetokounmpo said. \u201cI thrive when people don\u2019t believe in me. Doesn\u2019t matter if I\u2019m on the road, if I\u2019m at home, if I\u2019m at my family dinner, if I\u2019m at a practice facility against my teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/a><\/p>\nCopyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE (AP) \u2014 Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn\u2019t remember hearing boos from his home crowd during his brilliant 13-year career…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,68184,68185,66,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-535608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pro_national_sports","14":"tag-pronational_sports","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-timberwolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115892304669843630","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}