24 hours ago, Giannis Antetokounmpo was chasing LeBron James. Tonight, he was looking nothing like it. After snapping a seven-game losing skid with a win against the Nets, it appeared the Milwaukee Bucks were back on track. They hosted the Wizards tonight, a team that’s considered inferior when you have Giannis on your side. The Wizards, however, pulled a stunning upset. Now, fans want to blame the 129-126 loss on someone. After a shocking action Giannis pulled, he was the chosen one. 

For good reason, maybe. The Bucks weren’t exactly bad from the deep. They were 21/38 from three. Giannis had 26 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and a block. 

But this team has never had shooting woes. It was the lack of defense that hurt them. Giannis seemingly was not locked in with the fans’ satisfaction.

And then the plot twist!

Giannis scrubbed 90% of all traces of the Bucks from his social media. The only posts related to the team that remain are from the 2024 NBA Cup win.

This is unlike the time he went on a social media detox. He openly confessed he wanted a trade to the Knicks, has been dissatisfied with the Damian Lillard trade, and unfollowed the Bucks a while back. Fans believe this is a signal to the franchise.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s failures haunt him

After the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo refused to talk and marinated in silence in the locker room. It was not how anyone expected the game would go after he returned from his calf injury. It seemed to cement a feeling that’s been around since the Knicks’ revelation and Dame Lillard’s trade.

“He has checked out, it’s over, he wants out.” 

Giannis’ dissatisfaction with the Bucks has been obvious for months. Those who were watching the game tonight believe he was let down by Doc Rivers tonight. “look at how checked out Giannis was after the 2nd charge call that Doc didn’t f—– challenge, btw, and you thought that guy would be able to coach us into being an elite team in 2025.”

The Bucks are two losses away from the last spot in the East. The grossly underestimated Wizards shut down the Greek Freak with their defense and proved that scoring won’t get the Bucks anywhere.

Among the list of things that went wrong, “Tons of casual gambles on defense, couldn’t exert his will offensively, and then fittingly got cute trying to hit the late Dirk fade on Khris…instead fell down and didn’t get back in time on defense to let Wizards hit a late three.”

He was surrounded by guards who were diving at him. Giannis got tangled with Khris Middleton on one possession, and the Bucks star missed a 14-foot “Dirk fade.” Giannis didn’t get back on defense before Middleton hit the next three. Giannis also fouled out multiple times. His sixth foul on Bilal Coulibaly created the Bucks’ 17th turnover.

The most egregious sin was blowing a lead. “That was one of the most checked out games I’ve ever seen from Giannis, and it came off a 30-point win while they were up 15. I don’t get it.” Fans went as far as to say, “Giannis is a big reason we lost. He looked checked out for some reason. Didn’t want it offensively and lazy on defense.”

Maybe the social media scrub confirms that Giannis indeed wants out of Milwaukee. Most observers believed that was the case when he sent his family to Greece. The feeling might be mutual. 

After the way tonight went, they’re afraid of more games like this. So Bucks Nation wants the team to cut its losses. “Nah, it’s time to let the brother go he sees the team ain’t serious, and now after 13 years, he’s finally checked out the Giannis era in Milwaukee is over.”

If that’s true, time will tell. But in the immediate future, the Bucks need to clean up their act.