The NBA is pulling the rug out from underneath Giannis Antetokounmpo’s master plan.
The Milwaukee Bucks star had a hilariously blatant stat-padding moment during Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards.
In the closing seconds of the fourth quarter (with the game already decided), Antetokounmpo found himself just one rebound shy of a triple-double.
As a result, he casually waltzed over to the basket and bounced the ball to himself off the backboard, thereby securing his 10th rebound (albeit in extremely cheap fashion).
You can see the funny video here.
But unfortunately for Antetokounmpo, the league wasn’t having any of his antics. Zach Lowe of ESPN reported Monday that the NBA had retroactively rescinded Antetokounmpo’s 10th rebound (and thus his triple-double).
Lowe noted that, per NBA rules, a player must shoot with the “intent to score a field goal” in order for a field-goal attempt (and by extension, a rebound off that attempt) to count as official.
NBA Twitter personality Rob Perez previously mentioned that there was precedent for the NBA rescinding triple-doubles. The league also did so in 2004 when Atlanta Hawks guard Bob Sura intentionally missed a layup attempt in the closing seconds of a game for a 10th rebound to secure a triple-double.
