Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals why he loves playing against Hawks

Despite taking his first L of the NBA season on Monday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo was a big fan of the competition.

The two-time NBA MVP Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks suffered their first defeat of the year, dropping to the Atlanta Hawks on the road by a 117-98 final. The Bucks were 9-0 heading into the game but were halted in their tracks by Atlanta as Antetokounmpo shot just 9-of-20 from the field.

Afterward, Antetokounmpo spoke highly of Hawks bigs Onyeka Okongwu, John Collins and Clint Capela, who took turns thwarting him all night.

“I always love playing against people that love, that take pride in guarding, and [Okonkgu] is one of them,” said Antetokounmpo, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Capela is another one. Collins, another one. I always love playing against people that take pride in defending and take the challenge. You can kind of feel that. I have played against people that you kind of know they’re not taking this too serious, they kind of have that fear factor in their mind and you can kind of see it in their eyes, kind of smell it from the first play.”

“But I’ve played against [the Hawks] a lot of times, and I don’t feel that and I love that about it,” Antetokounmpo went on. “And I understand that people are going to try to make my job difficult, and I’m okay with that. I love that. I don’t want it to be easy. I want it to be a challenge and whenever I play those guys, it’s always a challenge. I respect that, and they’ve improved from day one — all three of them. And it’s always a battle when you play against Atlanta. So, I love playing against Atlanta.”

The 27-year-old Antetokounmpo is now 16-14 against Atlanta in his career (per StatMuse). The Bucks also had to get through the Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals en route to their NBA title victory. Led by star guard Trae Young, the Hawks were already a tough customer and got even tougher over the summer by adding another All-Star in Dejounte Murray.

Antetokounmpo’s comments here are especially admirable since he has had some negative experiences in Atlanta before. It turns out the Greek Freak is just a good old-fashioned competitor, and you have to love him for it.