Boston Celtics analyst Dan Greenberg took a shot at The Athletic and Giannis Antetokounmpo on April 17 for crafting a piece aimed at reducing injuries following the back injury “The Greek Freak” suffered after landing wrong during a play in which Kevin Love took a charge on an Antetokounmpo rim-run during a 130-117 Bucks loss to the Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals’ No. 1-No. 8 seed matchup.
Greenberg called out the publication for not calling out the times Antetokounmpo runs through defenders on his own drives to the rim.
Weird we don't ever get articles about banning players from just running into people offensively and instead forcing them to develop offensively https://t.co/Nfdoi1XldI
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 17, 2023
Antetokounmpo’s injury has already shifted the NBA’s title odds according to MassLive’s Brian Robb, putting Boston ahead of Milwaukee following the Bucks’ loss and the Celtics’ 112-99 Game 1 victory over the Hawks.
“These developments are already reflected in the latest NBA title odds on Fanduel after Game 1s this weekend as the Celtics (+270) have quickly become favorites ahead of the Bucks (+320) after the opening game for both teams,” Robb wrote.
Boston Celtics analyst defends stance on Giannis Antetokounmpo injury
While many pushed back on the Boston Celtics analyst’s take, Greenberg asserted that Love had his feet set to take a charge before Antetokounmpo was airborne — using Ja Morant’s similar injury on a similar play as supporting evidence:
In both plays yesterday the defender was in his spot before the offensive player took off. This was not a case of sliding under someone already in the air https://t.co/sKZtEkRxeB pic.twitter.com/bW0S4MnrUU
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 17, 2023
???
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 17, 2023
This is clearly not what Kevin Love did. He began sliding over as soon as Giannis got to the FT line and well before he lifted off. https://t.co/qWChzq7C5a pic.twitter.com/0nVQlJqNy5
Antetokounmpo could return to the court during Milwaukee’s series against Miami (and he likely will), but the cries of removing charges from the game have already begun.