“They Deserved to Win”: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Mid-series Injury Didn’t Have Anything to Do With Bucks’ 1st Round Exit vs Jimmy Butler & Co, per Teammate

The Miami Heat produced a massive turnaround in the postseason, reaching the NBA Finals in style. However, on their way to glory, the 8th seeded team disappointed top-seeding Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. Even though Heat’s star Jimmy Butler turned on his playoff cylinders, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s injury played a major role in Bucks’ exit. On the other hand, Giannis’ own teammate refused to believe that and gave the entire credits to the Miami side.

In the last five years, the Bucks emerged as the one of most successful NBA teams in the league. They produced the most number of regular season wins than any other franchise in the last 5 years. On top of it, the Greek Freak is the scoring leader for the entire franchise beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Greek-Nigerian star has made a significant change in the team’s success over the last decade, but in a recent interview, his teammate credited the Heat for defeating them in the playoffs.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s teammate takes Butler & Co’s side

The Bucks registered the best record in the regular season with 58-24 and emerged as the favorites for the championship. However, things went south in the very first round against the Heat. They lost to the underdogs, as the fans termed them, with a disappointing 4-1 series defeat. Notably, Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two and half games in the series after injuring his back in the first quarter of Game 1. Even though he returned to the series in Game 4 with a 2-1 record, he couldn’t pull back the momentum.

In response to the injury debate, Giannis’ teammate Khris Middleton recently opened up on a podcast conversation with J. J. Redick. He said, “Credit to them [Heat]. We weren’t good enough… They deserved to win that series and we didn’t.” Even though Redick addressed the question from the injury perspective, Middleton still stuck to crediting the Heat for their victory.

Unfortunately, the Heat couldn’t convert their dream run into a ring, as they fell short against the Denver Nuggets in the Finals.

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However, Giannis seemed upset about the loss, as he lashed out on a reporter.

Giannis lashed out on a reporter

After the Game 5 series loss, the Greek Freak addressed the press conference. During that time, a reporter used the term ‘failure’ while asking his question. It was enough for the star to give out a fitting reply to the reporter. He said, ““Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships; the other nine years was a failure?… There’s no failure in sports. You know, there’s good days, bad days.”

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What do you make of the Giannis injury debate? Let us know in the comments below.