SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t quite sure what was happening, only that Brook Lopez had met Trey Lyles face-to-face with 15.4 seconds remaining The Milwaukee Bucks’ 133-124 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Monday night.
Antetokounmpo was dribbling the ball high up the court to expire the clock, when Lyles began poking the ball, drawing a foul. Lyles then pushed Antetokounmpo, drawing Lopez’s will.
Antetokounmpo said, “Then I saw Brook get upset and he usually doesn’t get upset that much.” “He was screaming ‘Don’t do that again, don’t push her like that.’ Then I realised…he patted me in my back. Obviously I appreciate Brooke’s support of me and he’s my partner, not just on the court, off the court, he’s my man for life ”
Added Lopez, “That’s all I was doing. Game over. Giannis is dribbling off the clock. I don’t know what the guy was messing with Giannis was doing too much. Like I said, The game was already over. So, I just wanted to go out there and protect my boy.
The Bucks’ 7-footer and 6-9 Lyles exchanged words before Lopez was punched in the face, and the two tangled all the way to the scorer’s table.
“It was nothing personal,” Lyles told Sacramento media postgame. “But, a grown man walks in on me. I’m not really one to talk. It takes me a long time to get out of character. Just not going for that.
“It’s the end of the game, so why start it?” Lyles said. “If you are going to do this, you have to be prepared for the consequences. I am not saying it is right by any means, but what happened happened.
Both players were assessed technical fouls and ejected.
In the Bucks locker room, Lopez’s teammates weren’t surprised the way he reacted.
“I’m not going to lie — it’s expected,” Junior Holiday said. “Not only him, but everybody. Just tell people we’re a family over here and I mean, all that cheap stuff, we don’t really play it. I feel like at times We’re real professionals and all that – which we are – but we don’t really go for BS either.
Bobby Portis agreed.
“I think he did what he should have done,” he said. “Obviously we’ve got each other’s backs on this team. Somebody does that to anybody in the team, I think people who step into that situation and those kinds of situations would have the same reaction.
“Definitely a shout out to Brooks for Giannis’ return. I don’t think the push after the foul was necessary. I know the frustration is probably high. He was doing his job all night. It’ll be fine. Shout out though For Brooke, definitely. We have to support each other. We’ve all got that.
On the other end of it, Kings head coach Mike Brown had the same sentiment
Brown said, “I don’t know what happened, but we’re not taking from anybody.” “Trust me. And they’re all there patting each other on the back. That doesn’t mean we’re going to go over there and start something. We weren’t. But we’re going to stand up for ourselves and each other.” are going
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer declined to comment specifically on the incident but called it unfortunate.
Antetokounmpo said he would look after López to take care of him.
“Definitely going to pay for his technique,” Antetokounmpo said. “Going to, whatever you call it, reimburse him. I already told him. But I just appreciate the guys who have my back because at the end of the day, as much as you get in people’s faces Wanting and wanting to stand up for myself is something I try not to do as much.
“I try to focus on my game. People understand that and take my pity for weakness and my teammates have my back and say hey, you can’t do that anymore. I’m their Appreciate that they are doing this.” Me.”
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This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brooke Lopez Was Kicked Out For Backing Up For Giannis After Trey Liles Pushed Him