Drake clearly has been enjoying Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s struggles during the Eastern Conference finals, but the superstar rapper’s antics are rubbing some people the wrong way.
A senior executive for Octagon, the agency that represents Antetokounmpo, tweeted Wednesday that he has “never seen anything as disrespectful” as Drake’s repeated trolling of Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Georgios Dimitropoulos, who used to be Antetokounmpo’s European agent before becoming the senior director for Octagon Basketball Europe, took to Twitter one day after the Toronto Raptors routed Antetokounmpo and the Bucks 120-102 in Game 4 to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
Imagine a gig & an athlete on VIP seats, right next to the band, stands up on the stage just to show off during the entire game, knowing cameras are on him, occasionally even massaging the singer. Security&him both allow it. Never seen anything as disrespectful as this before…
— Georgios Dimitropoulos (@DimitropulosOCT) May 22, 2019
Dimitropoulos later deleted the tweet.
Drake once again was a visible presence from his usual seat near the Toronto bench throughout the game, laughing when Antetokounmpo missed free throws, roaming the sideline and even rubbing Raptors coach Nick Nurse’s shoulders at one point.
Antetokounmpo scored 25 points in Game 4 but shot just 6-of-10 from the free throw line and airballed a free throw for the second consecutive contest. He scored just 12 points in Milwaukee’s double-overtime loss in Game 3 and went 2-for-7 from the line.
Antetokounmpo was not asked about Drake after Tuesday’s game, but Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer reacted Wednesday.
“I don’t know of any person attending the game that isn’t a player or coach that has access to the court,” he said. “I don’t know how much he’s on the court. It sounds like you guys are saying a lot.
“There’s certainly no place for fans or whatever exactly what Drake is for the Raptors on the court. There’s boundaries and lines for a reason. The league is pretty good about that.”
Countless Bucks fans have an opinion, ripping the rapper on Twitter.
Several of those tweets were posted in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story with the headline: “Milwaukee totally hates Drake, somehow allowed to roam the court and troll Giannis.”
Nurse said Wednesday that he didn’t even realize what happened with himself and Drake.
“I didn’t even know I got the shoulder rub last night until somebody showed me a picture of it today,” he said. “I didn’t even feel it. I was so locked into the game.”
The series resumes in Milwaukee for Game 5 on Thursday night. But Drake will get one more chance to taunt Antetokounmpo and the Bucks when the series returns to Toronto on Saturday for Game 6.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews and Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.