The Milwaukee Bucks were blown out of Fiserv Forum 139-106 against a Minnesota Timeberwolves team that was playing without its biggest stars, Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert. Edwards was out with a foot injury while Gobert was serving a one game suspension for receiving his sixth flagrant foul of the season.
Milwaukee was without Myles Turner who had an illness, but otherwise had all hands on deck against Minnesota. Unfortunately, the Bucks were no match for the Timberwolves anyway. All night, the played uninspired basketball, and at one point Giannis Antetokounmpo was booed by the home crowd.
He booed back.
After the game, he addressed the incident with reporters.
Milwaukee Bucks fans clap back at Giannis Antetokounmpo for booing back at them
Jan 13, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) takes a shot between Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) and center Naz Reid (11) in the third quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
After the game, Giannis had the following to say about being booed by the home crowd:
“It doesn’t matter. It does not matter. I play basketball for my teammates. I play basketball for myself and my family. When people don’t believe in me, I don’t tend to be with them. I tend to be against them. I tend to do what I’m here to do, what I’m good at.
“I think I’m like a maverick. I’ve always been that way, so it won’t change now. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home or away. But yeah, I’ve never been a part of something like that before and I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t. But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do.
“I’m not gonna tell them what to do and how they should act when we don’t play hard or when we lose games, or when we’re not where we’re supposed to be. And I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me what or how I should act on the basketball court after I’ve been here 13 years and I’m basically the all-time leader in everything.”
And some Bucks fans did not take too kindly to his response:
I love Giannis, but…this ain’t it. He should have been booing his teammates’ lack of effort, not the paying customers. Watching it live, it didn’t even occur to me he would be booing the crowd.
— Kevin Madden OR (@PentaKev) January 14, 2026
As a former guy with no money, he should know the importance of show team showing effort, paying a ton of money for overpriced seats and concessions.
— Fire Doc (@tony_brothers69) January 14, 2026
No one was boing Giannis personally. The defensive effort, especially by Portis and Kyzma was, non-existent and the coaching staff had no answers whatsoever. Seeing it in person made me feel bad that Giannis has to deal with calling a couple of these guys teammates.
— CAGEY 🔥🎤📻 (@CageyProlific) January 14, 2026
Surely he can understand that the boos aren’t for him though? There’s a bunch of guys around him that aren’t even giving effort, that is the BARE minimum that fans ask for
— BodiedByRashy (@BodiedByRashy) January 14, 2026
As one can see, many fans are defending the home crowd from Giannis’ response while others claim that the boo’s were not directed at the two-time NBA MVP but at head coach Doc Rivers and the other players on the court.
Giannis had 25 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in the loss. He was the only Bucks player with more than 14 points.
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