As a calf injury sidelines Giannis Antetokounmpo from playing at the All-Star weekend, the fans did not miss his presence. Be it coaching and trolling on Friday or being around his teammates on Sunday, the Greek Freak was ever-present. His support for Team World even led to the 2x MVP trolling the officials.<\/p>\n
Team World was not at 100%, as not only Giannis but even Shai-Gilgeous Alexander was out with an abdominal strain. In fact, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic played out just 5 minutes in the first game before being on the bench. Amid this, Team World would lose both of its games, failing to secure even one win in the round-robin tournament.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Giannis Antetokounmpo stood by his team and pointed out the apparent reason why his team lost. The Bucks superstar seemingly blamed the officials. \u201cI gotta go talk to the referees,\u201d said Giannis as he was mic\u2019d up. \u201cYou know what\u2019s going on here. You guys are US citizens, and you don\u2019t care about the rest of the world. That\u2019s what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
While both results were not his team\u2019s favor, the performance was right up there, which made the marquee event a must-see.<\/p>\n
To start Sunday\u2019s new format, Victor Wembanyama took charge after vowing to be more competitive against the first Team USA. Those sentiments were backed as he scored the World team\u2019s first seven points against the USA Stars.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
But Anthony Edwards hit a three with 14.3 seconds left to tie it at 32-32 to force overtime. Later, it would be Scottie Barnes\u2019 effort from beyond the arc proving enough for the Stars to win 37-35.<\/p>\n
Wemby was furious when he went back to the locker room. In their second half of the night against another US Team, the Spurs star started hot. Against Team Stripes, he made four of his first five shots and scored 11 of his team\u2019s first 27 points to take a comfortable lead. But LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard<\/a>, playing in front of the home fans, had other plans.<\/p>\n The Klaw nailed four straight buckets while \u201cM-V-P\u201d chants rained down as he gave his squad a 31-29 lead with 4:51 left. LeBron James put the Stripes ahead with 31 seconds left on a putback dunk, but Wembanyama hit two free throws to tie it before Leonard\u2019s dagger sealed the Team Stripes win 48-45.<\/p>\n Since Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn\u2019t blame his teammates during this ordeal, he found the officials to express his frustration.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Giannis Antetokounmpo kept fans entertained throughout the weekend<\/p>\n On Friday night, Milwaukee Bucks superstar coached Team Giannis with his brothers Thanasis and Alex, along with Mookie Betts. For the All-Star Celebrity Game, Antetokounmpo sent former NBA center Tacko Fall into the game in the second quarter.<\/p>\n During that performance, the 7-foot-6 star also received some word of advice from his coach.<\/p>\n \u201cQuit trying to be like Wemby, be like Shaq!\u201d Giannis told the towering Tacko Fall. Meaning dominate the paint like Lakers legend Shaquille O\u2019Neal and not rely on jumpers from outside the paint like Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The advice worked as Fall registered 20 points and 21 rebounds. But the former NBA center was not the only player on the team to get trolled by Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>.<\/p>\n