SALT LAKE CITY – Giannis Antetokounmpo stalked the sidelines, complained to officials, huddled with his brothers Thanasis and Alex to draw up plays before addressing his team. If you just watched the Milwaukee Bucks’ star, you would have thought there was more on the line Friday night than just bragging rights in a celebrity basketball game.
That’s because for him, there was.
‘I was in it – I wanted to win,’ he told the Journal Sentinel. ‘Afterward, when I retire, I want to be a head coach. A lot of people don’t know that about me, but I want to be a head coach. I really want to be. It’s kind of hard, because you have no control. And, I know the game of basketball, I know how to play the game of basketball, so it’s hard.
The Antetokounmpos coached Dwyane Wade’s celebrity team to an 81-78 victory over Utah Jazz governor Ryan Smith’s team at the Jon Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, and Giannis Antetokounmpo was still breathing heavily minutes after a potential game-tying buzzer beater was deemed no good.
Not only that, he had an unfamiliar gravel in this throat.
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‘I lost my voice,’ he said. ‘But I got some cough drops, we got the win, I’m happy, we’re good.’
Coaching would be an interesting post-playing career choice for the 28-year-old, but in the moment it was another opportunity to do something unique as a family.
“It was hectic, obviously it was a great experience, we were into it, we were passionate and we had a great time overall and that’s all that matters,” said Alex, a former Dominican High School star and current member of the Wisconsin Herd. ‘We came away with the ‘dub,’ too. It’s different. I enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully that’s something we can do after basketball. That would be something very, very nice.
‘We’re just trying to have a bunch of fun and milk these experiences as much as we can.’
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf was the game’s MVP, helping bring Antetokounmpo’s team back from a halftime deficit.
“Felt great, felt great – I got my first win as a head coach,” Giannis said. ‘But, my job was tough. If they would only listen to me a little bit, we would have won by 20.’
Losing was not sitting well with the brothers throughout, and they were often animated in the team huddles.
“They kind of put the six-on-six players, played a zone to throw us off, but we got it done,’ Thanasis told the Journal Sentinel. ‘It was great. It was good. We had fun. I got to enjoy. I had the feeling I had playing with my brothers, it’s great.”
