Greek on Greek crime.
With just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter of the Kings’ blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday afternoon, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo used a Brook Lopez screen to get around veteran Iman Shumpert.
The 6-foot-11 forward got a full head of steam and ran at the rim. Waiting for Antetokounmpo was Kings big man Kosta Koufos and the scene played out very similar to what you would expect.
Antetokounmpo went up and over the top of Koufos, hammering a vicious dunk down on a player that he knows very well.
“That’s my guy, that’s my countryman,” Antetokounmpo told reporters following then game. “I don’t talk bad about him.”
When asked if he felt guilty about dunking on Koufos, who like Antetokounmpo, is of Greek descent, the Bucks star acknowledged that he did.
“Definitely, he’s a great guy, he’s a great guy,” the All-Star forward said. “I’ve met his family, I’ve met his mother. It’s going to be kind of awkward when we go back to Greece and talk to him, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
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While Koufos didn’t talk following the game, he would have said what he always does in these situations. This isn’t the first time that he’s been dunked on and it won’t be the last. It’s his job to step in and defend the rim and sometimes that means getting posterized.
Antetokounmpo finished the evening with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 11 rebounds in the Bucks 144-109 victory. The loss snapped Sacramento’s five game winning streak and sent them home 3-1 on their four game road trip.