Will Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Get Suspended for Headbutt?

Will Milwaukee Bucks’ big Giannis Antetokounmpo get suspended after he lost his cool and headbutted an opposing player on Tuesday night?

The Milwaukee Bucks’ game against the Washington Wizards was supposed to be a dull affair. After all, the Wizards had lost all six of their bubble games and the Bucks were sitting a litany of players including Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Wesley Matthews and Donte DiVincenzo. Unfortunately, Giannis Antetokounmpo lost his cool and ended up “headbutting” Moritz Wagner, earning an ejection.

With 8:50 remaining in the second quarter, Antetokounmpo took the pass at the top of the key and swiftly attacked the defense. As he was attempting to slice to the lane, Wagner stepped in front of him and drew the charge (a questionable charge at that). Before handing the ball to the official, Antetokounmpo had some choice words for Wagner.

Wagner headed down to his offensive end of the court–adjacent to the Bucks’ bench–along with precisely none of his teammates. When the ensuing timeout came, he made it a point to take an awkward path to his bench that put him directly in Antetokounmpo’s crosshairs once again. Antetokounmpo continued to yap at him and when the two directly crossed paths, he lowered his forehead into Wagner’s face where the latter once again sold the contact. In the end, the reigning MVP was ejected with a Flagrant 2.

Wagner has made a name for himself as an irritant in the NBA and appears to have targeted Antetokounmpo in recent contests. The two got tangled up in a couple of plays in their contest on Feb. 24 where Wagner flopped on a couple of calls–the first drawing the officials to review the play and the second where he pulled some WWE-style selling of an offensive foul.

Although it’s annoying, Antetokounmpo has to be in more control. Players are going to continue to target him and he’s certain to see his fair share of irritants in the postseason. He admitted afterward that it wasn’t so much Wagner he was upset with, it was the accumulation of plays, “I don’t think I was frustrated with Wagner. I think it was just the whole, like, buildup of dirty plays in my mind, you know, guys tripping me, guys falling in front of my feet, holding me, hitting me” said Antetokounmpo. “It wasn’t just – I don’t have nothing against Wagner, it wasn’t just him. It was just, like, in my mind all these games I’ve played guys hitting me so I lost it for a second.”

With just one game remaining on Milwaukee’s schedule before the playoffs begin, the biggest question on Bucks’ fans minds is will Antetokounmpo miss time in the postseason?

Although anything can happen, the likely answer is no. Remember when Antetokounmpo tackled Mike Dunleavy into the first row of a playoff game in 2015? That was a much more vicious act and he was only given a one-game suspension.

The Blog Father, Frank Madden, also did a quick search of recent head butt suspensions in the NBA and found encouraging news for Milwaukee. Kevin Garnett and Hasheem Thabeet were each suspended for just one game following headbutting incidents in 2015 and 2013 respectively.

Lastly, It may not be fair, but the NBA is also unlikely to suspend one of its biggest stars for the postseason. Especially when ratings are everything and the league has already lost a ton of money due to the stoppage in play.

Obviously, anything could happen. But the likely outcome is a fine and one-game suspension for Antetokounmpo. That should help Bucks’ fans breathe easier.