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“It was a hard but mature decision”- Giannis Antetokounmpo explains his decision to play just 20 seconds in the All-Star Game

Giannis Antetokounmpo avoided the possibility of aggravating his wrist injury

Matthew Dugandzic

“It was a hard but mature decision”- Giannis Antetokounmpo explains his decision to play just 20 seconds in the All-Star Game
“It was a hard but mature decision”- Giannis Antetokounmpo explains his decision to play just 20 seconds in the All-Star Game /
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As much as he wanted to fully participate in Sunday night’s All-Star Game, Giannis Antetokounmpo believed that opting to play for less than a minute was a wise move to make.

Playing it safe

Hampered by a wrist injury, Giannis played for just 20 seconds in Team Giannis’ 184-175 win over Team LeBron.

Antetokounmpo scored the game’s first two points via a soft two-handed dunk, but he quickly gave up a foul and was subbed out. Leaving the game promptly was a wise decision, Antetokounmpo said.

“I don’t think it was smart in any way to play a lot of minutes in an All-Star Game,” he said.

Antetokounmpo made it clear that he desired to see action in as many minutes as possible but also needed to look at the bigger picture.

“At the end of the day, you obviously want to participate. You want to run up and down, joke around, hustle, dunks, create some more but, at the end of the day, you also have to be mature,” he said.

In it for the long run

Giannis said it was tough to see himself being on the sidelines instead of duking it out on the hard court.

“It was a hard but mature decision to kinda take a break, take care of it and hopefully be available for my team,” said Antetokounmpo, obviously aware of the danger that aggravating his injury could certainly affect the Milwaukee Bucks’ campaign in the current NBA season.

While he didn’t get the playing minutes that he wanted, Giannis got the outcome that he earnestly desired. The Greek Freak finally got his first win against LeBron James in three All-Star Game meetings in which they served as team captains. Jayson Tatum helped Antetokounmpo end his slide against James after the Boston Celtics star erupted with an All-Star Game record of 55 points.

“I finally got one over LeBron,” Giannis mused.

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.