My effort wasn’t there but don’t boo me – Giannis Antetokounmpo rejects criticism despite admitting he didn’t give 100%

Giannis Antetokounmpo lashed out at the Milwaukee Bucks fans and said his record at the franchise means he should be immune from criticism.

Antetokounmpo, along with his team-mates, were booed during the 139-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. The Greek, who scored 25 points, responded by booing the crowd back and showing them both thumbs down.

He went further after the game, outlining his unhappiness at the way the fans had reacted.

He said: ”I play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for myself and my family. When people don’t believe in me, I don’t tend to be with them. I tend to do what I’m here to do, what I’m good at. 

“It won’t change home or away. But yeah, I’ve never been a part of something like that before and I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t. But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do.

“I’m not going to tell them what to do and how they should act when we don’t play hard. Or when we lose games, or when we’re not where we’re supposed to be. I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on [a] basketball court after I’ve been here 13 years. And I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”

We didn’t play hard – Giannis

The Bucks are now 17-23 for the season after a one-sided loss to a Timberwolves side missing Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards.

“Obviously you’re frustrated,” Antetokounmpo added. “I think we didn’t play hard. I think we didn’t do the right things. We didn’t play as a team. It’s not much you can take away from this game. You just got to kind of forget about it. Take all the things that you did new well, try to improve on it and go to the next one. But the effort was low, you cannot have that. You cannot have that.”

Despite rejecting any criticism, Antetokounmpo admitted he had not given 100%, dismissing claims of tiredness from coach Doc Rivers.

“I don’t think it’s dead legs,” he said. “Were we tired? Yeah, a little bit. We had a day off yesterday. I don’t see the reason.

“It’s not dead legs. I’m never going to say I didn’t have legs. I’m going to say that I could do things better. My effort wasn’t there. Maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should. And then after that, when I look at myself, I look at overall the team, what we can do better, but I don’t think it’s dead legs. That cannot be an excuse.”