The Milwaukee Bucks suffered defeat in Game 1 at the hands of the Miami Heat. A lot of people certainly didn’t expect the #1 seed from the east to drop the first game of the second round. Moreover, Giannis Antetokounmpo is under a lot of heat for his ignorant leadership abilities, which allowed Jimmy Butler to score on them. 

A lot of people seem to criticize Giannis for his actions. Here’s what happened in the game. The Bucks took an early lead, but were down trailing in the third quarter. Butler broke loose in the final 20 minutes to seal the victory for the Heat. 

Butler went on an insane scoring streak in the final minutes, and Giannis wasn’t there to guard him. The Bucks’ best player stayed away from guarding the Heat’s best player on the court. This raised a massive confusion among fans as to why Giannis didn’t try to contain Jimmy Buckets. 

‘The Greek Freak’ was asked about the situation in his post-game presser, and his response did not sit down well with many. “To guard him? No, I didn’t. Why would you ask that? I’ll do whatever coach wants me to do,” Giannis replied when a reporter inquired if he asked to guard Butler in the final quarter. 

Stephen A. Smith piles all the blame on Giannis Antetokounmpo

Stephen A. holds a powerful voice in the NBA community. His outspoken personality and the ability to captivate everyone with his words is truly remarkable. The 52-year-old co-hosts ESPN’s ‘First Take,’ and in a recent episode, he commented on Giannis’ interaction with the reporter. 

Stephen A. pointed out that what the 25-year-old did with the reporter is “inexcusable.” He then further explained why he should have stepped up when the Heat were on the verge of posting victory. 

“When you have a guy that’s in the midst of dropping 40, why didn’t you ask to guard him? We don’t wanna hear, ‘Well, you just do what the coach tells you to do.’ Of course, you do what the coach tells you to do,” Smith stated. “But throughout NBA history, we’ve seen stars saying, ‘Bump that, this is what I’m doing.’”

He then mentioned how coaches can only chalk out the play, and it is the duty of players to improvise according to the situation. “The true superstars in the game have the cachet to say ‘Uh-uh. Imma handle that.’” 

The fact that Giannis had the capacity to do it, but still did not guard Butler, disappoints Stephen A. “If you are an elite defender, you don’t put that responsibility on someone else. You handle it yourself. The Greek Freak did not do that last night. That’s not on Budenholzer. That’s on the Greek Freak,” he added.  

Well, Stephen A. summed up whatever he had in mind about Giannis’ performance in Game 1. His decision to not step up and guard Jimmy Butler in the final quarter has left everyone puzzled. What do you think? Should people take it easy on ‘The Greek Freak’?