Giannis Antetokounmpo decided to take matters into his own hands during a frustrating game against the Timberwolves and in bizarre scenes, booed his own home fans.
By half time, the fans at Fiserv Forum had had enough. Milwaukee were down 76-45 to the Timberwolves, who were playing without their star players Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards. The fans let out some loud boos at the teams went to the locker rooms.
In the third quarter, Giannis deicided to boo his fans back.
FULL MOMENT: Giannis boos back at Bucks crowd during blowout pic.twitter.com/MyShKbaYcE
NBAbzy (@nbabzyy) January 14, 2026
After the game, told reporters that he did not remember being booed by home fans before.
I was definitely booing back, Giannis said. When I get booed, I boo back. Ive been doing it all season. You [reporters] havent been with me on the road. Whenever I get booed, I boo back.
A reporter piped up, But its a home game.
To which Giannis replied,No, no, it does not matter. It doesnt matter, I play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for myself and my family. When people dont believe in me, I dont tend to be with them. I tend to be against them. I tend to do what Im here to do, what Im good at, right?
I think Im like a maverick. Ive always been that way, so wont change now, it doesnt matter if I am home, away. But, yeah, Ive never been a part of something like that before, and I dont think its fair. I dont. But everybody has the opinion to do what they want to do; Im not gonna tell them what to do or how to act when we dont play hard, we lose games, or maybe not where were supposed to be. And I dont think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on the basketball court after I have been here 13 years. And Im basically the all-time leader in everything.
Head coach Doc Rivers believed tired legs played a role in his teams sluggish game. But Antetokounmpo disagreed.
I dont think its dead legs,he said. Were we tired? Yeah, a little bit. We had a day off yesterday. I dont see the reason.
Its not dead legs. Im never going to say I didnt have legs. Im going to say that I could do things better. My effort wasnt there. Maybe I wasnt 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 dont think its dead legs. That cannot be an excuse.
READ MORE: Rich Paul Floats Bold Jaren Jackson Jr.-Austin Reaves Trade Idea
