Last night, the Chicago Bulls saw their five-game winning streak come to an end at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks, dropping a 112-103 decision. While up by seven points with less than seven seconds on the clock, Giannis Antetokounmpo decided to buck the general rule of letting the clock expire, taking the win, and respecting the opponent. Instead, he took it end-to-end and hammered home a windmill dunk with 1.9 ticks remaining. This comes after Friday night, when Trae Young slapped Ayo Dosunmu on the backside, causing a midcourt scuffle. While Chicago is not known for their constant conflict or picking fights, it's becoming clear that it will not back down.
Giannis Could've Been Sending A Message
The first possibility for why Antetokounmpo decided to rub the victory in, despite the traditional unwritten rules, is that he was making sure the Chicago Bulls' front office noticed him. Early in the month, when it was leaked that the former NBA Finals MVP would be open to moving teams before this season's trade deadline, it was confirmed shortly after that one of his first calls was to the Bulls. While there's not much bulletproof evidence that he did reach out to Chicago, or that they immediately rejected entertaining any trades for the superstar, those were the reports that saw the light of day. If he caught wind of that in any shape or fashion, or that sequence of evidence truly did happen, this is the perfect answer.
Nikola Vucevic:
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 28, 2025
"I'm assuming Giannis was mad about that report that came out the Bulls didn't want to trade for him."
(via @Will_Gottlieb)
pic.twitter.com/Y9YnLDCDRO https://t.co/dV4C4gdBA8
It's been assumed that Nikola Vucevic was not being serious when he said this, but for the sake of covering all possible reasons why The Greek Freak would have done what he did, it's worth noting that it could be a factor.
Generating A Spark In Milwaukee
After the game, Antetokounmpo said that it had nothing to do with the Bulls or disrespecting his opponent. This theory has to be the leader in the clubhouse, simply because he has been a generally straightforward character in the media and has given genuine answers. Paraphrasing his justification, he said the team needed a wake-up call, a message to remind them they are in deep waters, and that they need to and will do anything necessary to claw their way back. The Bucks are currently 11th in the Eastern Conference, and would miss the postseason entirely if the year ended today.
Giannis with the quote of the season:
— Bucks Lead (@BucksLead) December 28, 2025
"Are we 11th in the East or 12th? We just gotta keep finding our identity. If we need to get a little scrappy at the end, so be it. We're not the champs. Why should we have 'play the clock out and have respect and fair play', like we're… pic.twitter.com/BiIvyeL9kL
The two-time NBA MVP has only played 18 of their 32 outings so far this season, but if he can stay on the floor, they'll quickly climb the ranks. Will he force his way out in the next few months? Was this stunt intentionally staged in Chicago rather than somewhere else?
