Giannis Antetokounmpo played a total of 20 seconds Saturday night during the NBA All Star game before checking himself out of the game.
Antetokounmpo drove baseline and slammed home a soft two handed dunk on the game’s first possession before intentionally fouling Luka Doncic to stop the game and having somebody else sub in for him. The play-by-play commentator Brian Anderson reported afterwards that Antetokounmpo was finished for the night due to a lingering right wrist injury.
Giannis is done for the night after scoring first 😅 pic.twitter.com/mhFfiBzGU3
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 20, 2023
The only thing Antetokounmpo had in mind Saturday was to not injure his wrist any further. He made it crystal clear that his top priority in mind is to be healthy for the Milwaukee Bucks postseason run. But if you’re only going to play 20 seconds, why play at all? It seems unfair to the fans in attendance who saved up their hard earned money to watch him play.
Along with that, Antetokounmpo must have destroyed the pockets of anyone who placed any sort of prop bet on him. Being how he wasn’t listed on the injury report, it appeared like Antetokounmpo was ready to outdo is 27 point performance from last year’s All Star game. (RELATED: Cleveland Cavaliers Announce That They’ll Retire Kevin Love’s Jersey Number)
It was a major let down to barely see Antetokounmpo perform, but the first quarter of the game still had some cool highlights.
Ja goes 360 ‼️#NBAAllStar | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/sQppBq58ue
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2023
LEBRON TO HIMSELF OFF THE GLASS 👑#NBAAllStar | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/6PLKG0ca1s
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2023
The Joker finds the King for a TOUGH lob jam 🔨#NBAAllStar | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/DY8zrX7W6B
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2023
Dame checked in and immediately hit a DEEP 3 🎯#NBAAllStar | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/w7Gqgjsjm1
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2023
As fun as the All Star game is to watch, Antetokounmpo would have made the game much more entertaining. It’s a total bummer that he was too hurt to put on a show.