Giannis Antetokounmpo on Bucks' fans voicing displeasure: 'When I get booed, I boo back'

A frustrating season continued for the Milwaukee Bucks with their 139-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. It was their 18th defeat in their last 27 games and as they left the court halftime down 76-45 the fans inside Fiserv Forum let them hear it with a chorus of boos.

Those boos would be surprisingly returned later on in the game by their star player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, after he hit a shot in the paint and was fouled.

Antetokounmpo gestured thumbs down to the crowd twice and let out an audible boo.

Antetokounmpo has done this before, but previously it was on the road to opposing fans — not his own. Afterward, he told reporters that he did not remember being booed by home fans before.

“I was definitely booing back. When I get booed, I boo back. I've been doing it all season. You [reporters] haven’t been with me on the road," said Antetokounmpo. "Whenever I get booed, I boo back.”

The fact that the booing was coming from his own fans didn’t factor into Antetokounmpo’s decision to react.

Patrick McDermott via Getty Images

“No, no, it does not matter. It doesn't matter, I play basketball for my teammates," he said. "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 be against them. I tend to do what I'm here to do, what I'm good at, right?

"I think I'm like a maverick. I've always been that way, so won't change now, it doesn’t matter if I am home, 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 the opinion to do what they want to do; I'm not gonna tell them what to do or how to act when we don't play hard, we lose games, or maybe not where we're supposed to be. And I don't think anybody has the right to tell me how I should act on the basketball court after I have been here 13 years. And I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”

The T-Wolves were playing without a suspended Rudy Gobert or Anthony Edwards, who was out for injury management. Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers said tired leg played a role in his team's sluggish play. Antetokounmpo, however, disagreed.

"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."

The 17-23 Bucks are back at it on Thursday with the start of a two-game road trip in San Antonio before an afternoon matchup on Monday against Atlanta.

The Bucks are just outside of the Eastern Conference play-in places, but their recent stretch has put them in a deep hole to dig out of. The fans' frustrations will continue, especially when Antetokounmpo’s future with the franchise remains murky.