Published 12/16/2022, 6:10 PM EST
Since its inception in 1946, the NBA has slowly emerged as one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. With the league’s growing popularity, the game of basketball and the rules to define it have also evolved a great deal to ensure fairness in the league. However, the NBA still faces criticism at times for bad officiating and have even been accused of rigging games in the past. In one such instance, a decision regarding superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo once prompted sports analyst Skip Bayless to accuse the NBA of partiality.
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Back in May, the Boston Celtics met the Milwaukee Bucks during the Western Conference semifinals. The series was tied at 1-1 as things began to heat up during Game 3. With around eight minutes left in the second half, Jayson Tatum attempted a thrown down which was nearly blocked by Giannis Antetokounmpo in what many thought was a dangerous play. However, Tatum managed to put the ball into the hoop despite the massive foul from Antetokounmpo.
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Immediately after the contact, Tatum got slammed into the pole and hurt his wrist while falling down. The foul was called but the referees did not take any drastic action against the Bucks forward.
Skip Bayless made huge accusation after Giannis Antetokounmpo foul
The incident between Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo riled up Fox Sports’s Skip Bayless, who deemed the Bucks star’s foul was a flagrant. He took to Twitter to argue his claims about the NBA being partial to Giannis. Bayless also mentioned the incident involving Ja Morant’s Memphis Grizzlies teammate Dillion Brooks and Golden State Warriors’ Gary Payton II to support his argument.
In his tweet, Skip Bayless wrote, “THROW GIANNIS OUT. SUSPEND HIM A GAME. WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE IS WHAT HE JUST DID TO JTATUM (WHO HURT HIS LEFT WRIST/HAND ON THE FALL) AND WHAT DILLON BROOKS DID??? GIANNIS BLASTED TATUM IN THE FACE WITH HIS ELBOW! OH, THAT’S RIGHT, GIANNIS IS A SUPERSTAR AND BROOKS IS BROOKS.”
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Bayless insisted that Giannis Antetokounmpo should have been ejected from the game after his elbow hit Tatum’s face. Moreover, he claimed that the NBA was biased toward its superstars, citing the example of Dillon Brooks, who got suspended for a similar foul on Payton II during the playoffs series against the Dubs.
Dillon Brooks’ suspension
Bayless pointed out that the Memphis Grizzlies’ star Dillion Brooks was severely punished for his flagrant two foul against Warriors’ Gary Payton II during the round two series. The NBA issued Brooks a suspension for his foul. Bayless pointed out that Antetokounmpo did not receive a harsher punishment for his severe mistake, unlike Brooks. The veteran reporter concluded that this was an instance of the league’s partiality towards superstars.
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Do you agree with Skip Bayless’ accusation? Let us know in the comments below.
“Throw Giannis Antetokounmpo Out”: NBA Was Accused of Partiality Towards Bucks Star After Ja Morant’s Grizzlies Incident
