ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins laid down some heavy criticism on Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo a day after the Bucks dropped their sixth straight and second consecutive game to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Perkins’ words come amid speculation and talk circling Giannis and a trade.
Bucks Superstar Has ‘Blood On His Hands,’ Per NBA Analyst
Big Perk Claims Bucks Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo Needs to Stick it Out
Suffice it to say, the Milwaukee Bucks are reeling right now under Doc Rivers. While Rivers must take on much of the blame, it’s not all on the championship coach if his former player has anything to say about it. Perkins, who won a championship under Rivers with the Celtics in 2008, leveled a colossal take aimed at the Greek Freak while appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday. The Bucks lost again to the Cavaliers 116-114 in the back half of a home-and-home. Perkins suggests that amid the trade talk surrounding the Bucks superstar, Giannis has no business jumping ship, and he explains why.
“Giannis is the one that made this bed. He the one that gotta lay in it, he the one that gotta lay in it, okay? It goes way before the firing of Adrian Griffin, then Mike Budenholzer got fired as well, a guy that they won a championship with. Then, all of the sudden, you fire Adrian Griffin, and Giannis forced the hand to trade for Damian Lillard and get Jrue Holiday out of there. Here’s the thing: does Giannis have blood on his hands? Absolutely, all over this. So you gotta stick it out, you gotta ride it out. This is what you wanted, Giannis. You knew that you and Dame didn’t have the chemistry that ya’ll needed to have especially playing the two-man game.”
Perkins went all in on this one, and his tone backed it up. As scathing as his comments are, Giannis may very well play a significant role in how this Bucks season is going. Seven games in, the Giannis and Damian Lillard duo is failing, much like it did last year.
Is Milwaukee’s Season Turn Around-able?
The short answer is yes. It’s almost shocking to see where the Bucks sit right now in the East. Debate can be had over whose shoulders their 1-6 record falls on more: Giannis, Dame, or Rivers. Khris Middleton is not coming to the rescue this week or next—who knows when he will return. According to ESPN Senior NBA Insider, Shams Charania, Middleton has still yet to be cleared for five-on-five play and remains out indefinitely. Regardless, despite this extremely low place Milwaukee finds themselves in, it truly is only seven games in.
It is hard to believe Giannis and Lillard can’t sort this out. Lillard is averaging 27.6 PPG, and Giannis is pouring in 31 PPG of his own. Their offensive statistics clearly look like they belong on a top-seeded team. Yet, the Bucks sit in the basement of the Eastern Conference.
So, is it coaching? Does Rivers need to shuffle things around? Maybe so. Nevertheless, what Kendrick Perkins speaks to concerning Giannis’s trade rumors, the superstar is on the team he wanted, with the coach he wanted. His shoulders are some of the broadest in the league. If accountability means anything, it’s his responsibility to put his team on those shoulders and figure it out.
