Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo reacted to the recent criticism of his former head coach, Doc Rivers.
Rivers recently made comments about Antetokounmpo being a difficult player to coach and questioned his basketball IQ, comments he later said he regretted making and clarified that he made a mistake in how he enunciated them.
But Antetokounmpo doesn’t care either way.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Not Losing Sleep Over Doc Rivers’ Comments
Per The Athletic, Antetokounmpo said that he’s not losing any sleep over what his former head coach had to say about him.
“That’s external motivation. That can make you hungry for a game or two, but it’s either in you or it’s not, you know what I’m saying? What people say, that’s not going to make you hungry. In order for you to be really hungry, it’s got to be the way you go about your life. — My level of belief is 100 percent. It never wavers. No matter what anybody says. That’s how I operate. — Hell no, Losing sleep? Hell no,” Antetokounmpo said.
“That’s external motivation. That can make you hungry for a game or two, but it’s either in you or it’s not, you know what I’m saying? What people say, that’s not going to make you hungry. In order for you
Giannis Antetokounmpo Playing Great Basketball
Regardless of what Rivers said about Antetokounmpo, the best way for him to prove his former coach wrong is to play great basketball, which is what he is doing right now.
On Tuesday night, the Heat beat the Sacramento Kings on the road, and Antetokounmpo had 30 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Overall, this season, Antetokounmpo is averaging 27.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game for the Heat, who are now 5-6 this season.
The Heat had a rough start to the year, but the team has started to really turn things around as of late, which is great to see as the team made a big swing to pick up Antetokounmpo this offseason from the Bucks in a blockbuster deal.
While things took some time for the team to start gelling, the Heat are really starting to play some great basketball as of late, which is great news for Miami’s fans, as they are hoping this is a team that can go all the way this year and potentially make it to the NBA Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Reacts to Doc Rivers’ Criticism