Yannis Antecompo is known as a player who does not for a moment hide his natural facial expressions, on and off the field. His smile for example knows how to melt Milwaukee fans, but also annoy the rival fans, so it turned out tonight (Wednesday to Thursday).
In the midst of the mighty Philadelphia thriller, which ended 105-109 for the Bucks after overtime, the MVP sealed an individual 0-7 run with a large half-distance basket that virtually closed out the Eastern Battle. How did Yannis celebrate the basket? He sat down on the parquet of the Wells Fargo Center, looked at the camera and smiled.
“I wanted to strangle him, but I already had a technical foul,” Sixers chin Dwight Howard said, clarifying, “We’ll meet them again.” Even the few thousands present in the stands made their voices heard with jarring contemptuous whistles that made us realize how much the crowd was missing, how much Joel Ambide was missing and how fascinating a playoff series between the two teams could be.
After scoring 32 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in the win, Antecompo’s smile remained even at the press conference. “What’s the problem with having fun?” He said when asked about the same move. “I just like to have fun, and when we fell behind in the first half I did not enjoy. At the break I talked to myself and told myself that no matter how the game ends, I must not forget that I am here to have fun.”
Yannis’ best friend Chris Middleton also commented at the time: “I was shocked when I saw his celebration, but I don’t think it was due to a lack of respect for Philadelphia. From my acquaintance with Yannis, he just wants to make a living.”
Sit back relax and enjoy the show🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/78uzz04JIG
– Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@ Giannis_An34) March 18, 2021
Dwight Howard was asked about Giannis sitting down at midcourt and if it bothered him: “Yeah, I wanted to Stone Cold Stunner him but I already had one tech.”
Rich Hofmann @rich_hofmann March 18, 2021