Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his first game of the season on Wednesday night. Why? We have no idea. Neither does he, apparently.
Antetokounmpo, who had appeared in 145 consecutive games and started 64 in a row heading into the matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, is not battling an injury. When asked after the game why he didn’t play, Antetokounmpo said he wasn’t given an explanation from Bucks coach Jason Kidd.
“He didn’t tell me,” he said, per Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I don’t know. It was coach’s decision — I don’t know — for me not to play today.”
Kidd emphatically told reporters that benching Antetokounmpo was his decision, and it almost sounds like he was beating his chest over it. Velazquez notes that Kidd used the phrase “coach’s decision” six times during his postgame press conference.
“Coach’s decision,” Kidd said. “It was a coach’s decision. I don’t know what, you guys can’t hear? … You guys are smart. How about the game?”
When asked if Antetokounmpo was injured, Kidd made a wise crack.
“No, he was breathing,” he said.
Prior to the game, Kidd told reporters Jared Dudley would be starting and Antetokounmpo would come off the bench. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.
It’s hard to believe Antetokounmpo would be benched seemingly out of nowhere with playoff position on the line without knowing what he did wrong. We know Giannis can be a pretty funny dude, as evidenced by some of his past tweets. But we doubt social media had anything to do with his benching. Who knows if we’ll ever get an answer.
