Brown calls Giannis “a child” after high-five fake-out

BOSTON — Jaylen Brown was not a fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo and his antics during Sunday’s Boston Celtics-Milwaukee Bucks clash. Brown called the Bucks superstar “a child” following a somewhat playful exchange between the two during the second quarter of the Boston’s 113-107 win.
It was a physical tilt between the two teams, and Giannis was at the center of a couple of controversial plays during the game. He hit Brown with an elbow up high on a drive to the hoop, and later tripped up Jayson Tatum as he got in his landing space on a three-point attempt.
But it was a fun — though slightly juvenile — joke that had Brown calling Giannis “a child” after the game.
Antetokounmpo did his thing on his way to 43 points on Sunday, trucking through any defender that stood in his path to the hoop. Brown was in his way in the second quarter, and Antetokounmpo hit him with an inadvertent elbow up high on his way to the cup, sending Brown to the floor.
In what is a rarity in the NBA, Antetokounmpo was hit with an offensive foul on the play. (But no flagrant for the high elbow.) As the two players made their way up the floor, Antetokounmpo extended his hand for a make-good high-five to Brown.
But when Brown went in for the high-five, Antetokounmpo hit him with a “too slow” and pulled his hand back, sporting a huge grin as he put his hand over his head.
Antetokounmpo reached out for another high-five after, but Brown wanted no part of it. He had learned his lesson.
It was all in good fun, and a pretty harmless burn by Antetokounmpo. But Brown, who scored 14 points in his first game in over a week after missing time with a hip injury, shared his disapproval of Antetokounmpo’s joking attitude after the Boston win.
“Giannis is a child,” said Brown. “I’m just focused on helping my team get a win, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Brown is a very serious individual. Very serious. So he doesn’t have time for jokes in the heat of battle.
Antetokounmpo is a fierce competitor, but a big kid at heart. He said he was just joking around with Brown, whom he called “an incredible player.” He added that he takes the game serious, but also wants to have some fun.
“I think we’re always trying to joke around within the flow of the game. It’s something I do with my kids when we play around,” he said. “Sometimes, I’m like, ‘Give me a high-five. Oh, you’re too slow.’ I just did it. I enjoyed it, though. It was fun.”
When told that Brown had called him “a child,” Antetokounmpo said that’s simply who he is.
“This is who I am. I play the game with fun, joy,” he said. “I try to surround myself around young people so I can stay young myself, try to be around my kids a lot, my nieces, and sometimes I might go out there at times on the court when I play and do stuff like that, but at the end of the day, as I said, I think he’s an incredible player. He always does the right thing to help his team win. But I’m just going to continue to be me.
“At the end of the day, if I’m called a child, so be it. I have three children of my own and I think six nieces. I take care of a lot of kids around here,” added Antetokounmpo. “Sometimes when you’re around a kid, you try to act like a kid. It’s fun. It’s fun to be around them. So I just try to go out there and have fun. Again, great player, great competitor. If I have another opportunity, I’ll do it again.”
So beware, NBA players. If Giannis goes in for a high-five, there’s a real good chance you’re going to get hit with a “too slow” as well. But that’s better than a high elbow, right?
Brown was later assessed with a Flagrant 1 when he played some hard defense on an Antetokounmpo drive to the hoop in the fourth quarter.
Celtics fans had a scare in the third quarter, and it once again involved Antetokounmpo. Tatum put up a corner three, and landed on Antetokounmpo’s foot when the Bucks star got in his landing space. Tatum tweaked his ankle on the play, but no foul was called on Antetokounmpo.
Tatum was obviously displeased with the no-call as he was on the court in pain. He shook it off and led Boston to a win, but voiced some criticism of the officials after the victory.
“Certain calls I feel like you can’t miss. Your job is to protect the guys on the court,” said Tatum. “I could’ve been out for six weeks. That [stuff] is frustrating.”
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla also took issue with the missed call.
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t miss that,” he said. “Can’t miss that.”
Mazzulla praised Tatum for not letting the no-call impact the rest of his game, as the C’s star led the way with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Boston improved to 9-2 on the season with the win, while the Bucks dropped to 2-8.
The two teams will square off for the third and final time of the regular season on Dec. 6 at TD Garden in Boston.