Getting booed on the road is one thing, but getting booed by your home fans is another story, and that’s exactly what happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night.
The Bucks were blown out at home, 139-106, by the Minnesota Timberwolves and during the game Bucks fans expressed their frustration with the team by releasing the boo birds. Antetokounmpo reacted in-game to the boos by booing back and doing a double thumbs down gesture.
After the game, Antetokounmpo discussed being booed by the fanbase that he has played his entire career in front of for the first time.
"Never. I've never been a part (of it). Kinda new for me,” Antetokounmpo said of being booed at home. “It doesn't change. It's the same thing. It doesn't matter. I thrive through adversity. I thrive when people don't believe in me.
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“Doesn't matter if I'm on the road, if I'm at home, if I'm at my family dinner, if I'm at the practice facility with my teammates. It doesn't really matter. So, yeah, I've never been a part of something like that before, so it was something new for me. I like it though. I love it"
Giannis on the Bucks getting booed at home for what appears to be the first time in his career:
— Bucks Lead (@BucksLead) January 14, 2026
"Doesn't matter. I thrive through adversity. I thrive when people don't believe in me. Doesn't matter if I'm on the road, if I'm at home, if I'm on my family dinner, if I'm at the… pic.twitter.com/bL4qRBLXoS
Antetokounmpo added that he didn’t think the jeers were necessarily fair, but that he wasn’t going to tell fans how to react when the team plays poorly like it did against Minnesota.
“But yeah, I've never been a part of something like that before and I don't think it's fair. I don't. But everybody has their opinion to do what they want to do,” Antetokounmpo said. "I'm not going to tell them what to do and how they should act when we don't play hard. Or when we lose games, or when we're not where we're supposed to be.”
Milwaukee is six games under.500 on the season, so Bucks fans have reason to be frustrated. But, booing Antetokounmpo might not be the best approach to get him to want to remain in Milwaukee long-term.
All the talk about Antetokounmpo this season has been about him potentially requesting a trade away from the Bucks, and though he has insisted he won’t do that, feeling unappreciated by the fanbase could cause him to change his mind.