Bucks' Antetokounmpo can't explain benching; Kidd calls it 'coach's decision'
So, this was an interesting choice.
With his team taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, in a game that was by no means devoid of playoff seeding implications, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd opted to sit forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Both Antetokounmpo and Kidd insisted after the game that Antetokounmpo isn't injured. He was the only Buck to have appeared in every game of the season before Wednesday; perhaps a day off was in order.
But why, then, wouldn't Kidd have mentioned it to him?
"He didn't tell me," Antetokounmpo said after dressing for the game and receiving a DNP-CD, according to Matt Velasquez of the Journal Sentinel. "No, he didn't tell me."
Asked if he could think of any reason why he would've been benched without warning, Antetokounmpo was at a loss.
"I don't know," he said. "It was coach's decision - I don't know - for me not to play today."
Kidd, for his part, didn't have any additional insight.
"Coach's decision," he said in his postgame presser, one of a reported six times he used the term. "It was a coach's decision. I don't know what, you guys can't hear? ... You guys are smart. How about the game?"
How about it?
"The guys played at a very high level, yes, they put themselves in a position to win," Kidd said. "That's first and foremost the most important thing, not asking me stupid questions about why Giannis didn't play."
To Kidd, the questions may have seemed stupid, but since he wouldn't reveal the reasoning behind his surprising lineup decision, others obviously felt it bore mentioning.
The Bucks are close to locking up the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, but with a two-game cushion on two teams with four games remaining, it's far from guaranteed.
This isn't insignificant. The difference between the 6- and 7-seeds will be the difference between playing a team like the Toronto Raptors or Chicago Bulls (both backing their way into the playoffs) and playing the Cavaliers (who are on a 32-7 run) in the first round.
The Bucks lost by five points on Wednesday. Having Antetokounmpo - their second-leading scorer and rebounder - on the floor might've made the difference.