Ex-Net Slams Giannis Antetokounmpo for Hurting All-Star in 2021 Title Run

Milwaukee Bucks All-NBA superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo claimed his first — and, thus far, only — league title while leading his club through a then-deep Eastern Conference in the 2021 playoffs, en route to a six-game series against the Phoenix Suns.

On his path to championship glory, however, there was some collateral damage.

Now, three seasons later, a former Brooklyn Nets role player is calling him out for his involvement in the injury of a then-Nets superstar nemesis.

Journeyman combo forward Markieff Morris blames a seemingly inadvertent Antetokounmpo move for ending his team’s title aspirations that year, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post.

Antetokounmpo slid his foot under All-Star Nets point guard Kyrie Irving’s foot during Game 3 of a hotly contested Eastern Conference Semifinal series, causing him to sprain his ankle.

“If Giannis ain’t put his foot under [Irving], [Brooklyn] would’ve had a championship. Milwaukee would still be without a championship. I know so. They were going to get swept. They know that. You can ask anybody on their team,” Morris claimed. He noted that then-Bucks reserve point guard Jeff Teague also echoed that sentiment on his own podcast, writes Bondy.

The Nets, who were the No. 2 seed in that Eastern Conference Semifinal series against No. 3-seeded Milwaukee, took a 2-0 series edge at first. That stacked Brooklyn roster was led by three future first-ballot Hall of Famers in forward Kevin Durant, Irving, and guard James Harden. Various extenuating circumstances would quickly break it apart, but that postseason represented its best chance at realizing its on-paper promise and winning it all, with an absolutely humming offense.

Brooklyn fell in seven games. Milwaukee went on to win its first championship in 50 years, with Antetokounmpo being named Finals MVP, and All-Star supporting players Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton burnishing their own legacies.

Morris, who won a title as a key reserve for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, was flipped along with Irving to the Dallas Mavericks during the 2022-23 season. Now, both Morris and Irving are back in the NBA Finals (it’s Morris’ first appearance since 2020, although this time he’s not a regular rotation piece, and Irving’s first since 2017), only this time, they’re trailing the opposition, the Boston Celtics, 0-2 to start.

Read more: Celtics Reveal Kristaps Porzingis’ Injury Designation for NBA Finals Game 3

Antetokounmpo’s Bucks, meanwhile, were plagued by injury trouble themselves this year. The 6-foot-11 big man incurred a soleus strain in his left calf late into the regular season, and was unable to suit up for any game of the No. 3-seeded Bucks’ first round series clash with the No. 6-seeded Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee All-Star point guard Damian Lillard also missed a pair of contests in the series, which the favored Bucks lost in six games.