LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended for Milwaukee‘s final game of the regular season, handed a one-game penalty Wednesday for headbutting Washington‘s Moe Wagner.
It’s unknown whether Antetokounmpo would have played in Thursday’s game against Memphis anyway, given that the Bucks have already secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs that start next week.
Antetokounmpo will be eligible for Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series against Orlando, which will almost certainly be played Monday or Tuesday at Walt Disney World.
The incident happened Tuesday night, when Wagner took a charge against Antetokounmpo in the second quarter. Antetokounmpo appeared to be speaking angrily, followed Wagner to the other end of the court and the headbutt took place a few seconds later.
Antetokounmpo said after the game that the headbutt was a “terrible action” and that if he “could go back, turn back time and go back to that play, I wouldn’t do it.”
He said he was frustrated by an accumulation of contact, on a night when he had already been awarded 12 free throws in his first 10 minutes of play.
Antetokounmpo was ejected from the game for the flagrant foul 2. He finishes the regular season with averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists, numbers that are likely good enough to win him a second consecutive NBA MVP award.
The ejection Tuesday was Antetokounmpo’s fourth overall, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and first since April 1, 2018, at the Denver Nuggets.
The one-game suspension will cost Antetokounmpo $178,225, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
