Giannis Antetokounmpo has played in front of many raucous crowds in his storied career. This past weekend, he faced a set of spectators that he'd never encountered: the occupants of an infamous section called "The Wall."
This section of the Intuit Dome, which cost $2 billion, per Forbes, is meant to generate the strongest reaction in favor of the LA Clippers and against the team's opponents. When the Clippers squared off against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday in Inglewood, California, Antetokounmpo had to deal with a tactic that "The Wall" had in store for his first Intuit Dome visit.
Fans held signs and counted down as the nine-time All-Star took his shots. This one sequence had them scream one to 14 as Antetokounmpo made the basket:
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The "Greek Freak" has been accused of taking an unusually long time to get his in-game free throws up. For the past few years, opposing fanbases have taken pleasure in timing Antetokounmpo's free throw attempts.
Fans, players and even commentators have counted down the Bucks forward's attempts, which are sometimes followed by 10-second free throw violation calls by refs. During Game 5 of the 2021 NBA Finals, a Phoenix Suns fan counted down an Antetokounmpo free throw attempt using $100 bills.
As for the Clippers fans seated in "The Wall," they didn't garner much success in disrupting Antetokounmpo's rhythm for much of the game. The face of the Milwaukee franchise ended up making 12 of his 15 free throws en route to a 36-point performance. The Clippers still had the last laugh as they defeated the Bucks 127-117.
Giannis Antetokounmpo leads all players in fan votes en route to ninth start in All-Star Game
If there's one stretch in which the "Greek Freak" won't be shooting too many free throws, it'll be the 2025 All-Star Game, which will adopt a mini-tournament format for the first time.
To Antetokounmpo's credit, he led all NBA players in the fan vote. The Bucks superstar finished with 4,435,266 votes, ahead of other iconic players like Jayson Tatum (3,613,835), Nikola Jokic (3,724,344), LeBron James (3,339,907) and Steph Curry (2,342,126).
It's been four years since Antetokounmpo won his first All-Star Game MVP award. The star-studded showcase on Feb. 16 could see the 2021 NBA champion add another trophy to his loaded shelf.
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