Damian Lillard hit his first game-winning buzzer-beater for the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings. After the game, Lillard posted a picture on Instagram of him and his teammates doing the ‘Dame Time’ celebration, but Thanasis Antetokounmpo had been cropped from it.
Here’s the full picture of the team doing the celebration together in front of the cameras, and you can see Thanasis right in front of the pack.
NBA fans quickly noticed that Antetokounmpo had been cropped out, and one of them had a hilarious explanation for it.
“Thanasis doing Dray time not Dame time.”
Thanasis doing Dray time not Dame time https://t.co/HMNaCCvN0P pic.twitter.com/BH7qtmcd3k
— 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓽 ✈️ (@mldiffley) January 16, 2024
It does look like Thanasis was getting ready to swing at someone the way we have seen Draymond Green do in the past. Jokes aside, I doubt there was any particular reason why Lillard or his social media team cropped out the 31-year-old. I don’t think much thought was put into it apart from celebrating what was a memorable moment.
You get, though, why fans might think there was something more to it. Antetokounmpo has had the spotlight on him for a while now, albeit for the wrong reasons. Thanasis has been called the prime reason why nepotism is bad by fans, who firmly believe he is only on the roster because he is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s brother.
Even some NBA executives said Thanasis wouldn’t be on any NBA roster if not for Giannis. That might well be true, as he is a bench-warmer who is averaging 0.9 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game this season.
We have seen situations like these in the past as well, though. Teams always go to great lengths to ensure that their superstar is happy and if having his brother on the team appeases Giannis, then the Bucks would give him a spot.
Damian Lillard Said His Teammates Were Asking Him To Do The ‘Dame Time’ Celebration
This was the first time that Lillard had done the celebration since joining the Bucks and it appears his teammates were previously wondering why they hadn’t seen it. During his postgame press conference, the seven-time All-Star spoke on why he finally decided to do it.
“I’ve had a few moments, not any game winners, but I’ve had some big shots at the end of some games, and they like, ‘Man, you didn’t even tap your wrist,’” Lillard said. “And I kept telling them like, ‘Man, if you look over the course of my career, I didn’t just, every game, tapping my wrist. I was like, ‘I do it when it’s necessary.’ And tonight it was necessary.”
(starts at 3:36 mark):
It isn’t a celebration the 33-year-old does all the time and it’s reserved for big moments like against the Kings. This was a rollercoaster of a contest that went to overtime, and Lillard sealed the 143-142 win by drilling a deep three-pointer from about 32 feet.
That shot meant Lillard ended the game with a team-high 29 points to go with 4 rebounds and 8 assists. The Bucks improved to 28-12 with the win and remain within touching distance of the top-seeded Boston Celtics.
After a concerning run earlier this month where they lost four of five games, the Bucks have now won three in a row. They are still somewhat of a work in progress, which was to be expected when you add a big piece like Lillard and have a new head coach in Adrian Griffin. It’ll be interesting to see how they look when we get closer to the playoffs.
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