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Closing In On An Explanation For Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Benching

By Adam McGee

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It should be well on it’s way to tapering off into insignificance, but some stories just won’t go away. Remember when Jason Kidd dropped Giannis Antetokounmpo for no apparent reason for a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers last season?

Well, it’s a story that nobody has ever truly seemed to get to the bottom of, and as a result it just keeps on running.

In the last month or so, even with the season over, mention of the incident hasn’t been uncommon, and in fact, even better than that we finally got to hear the thoughts of two men who would have the real inside track.

Now free of the potential shackles of sharing any thoughts that he’s no longer a member of the team, Jared Dudley was quizzed on what he could remember of the incident in a podcast with Zach Lowe, while Giannis himself even spoke about it in a recent blog entry over at EuroHoops.net.

We’ll start with Dudley, the man who’s tongue is likely to be a little bit more free on these sort of matters now.

Asked by Lowe what exactly had happened to lead to the young Greek getting benched, Dudley initially seemed hesitant to go into detail. He did at least offer a glimpse into how coach Jason Kidd is working to get his young squad into shape to succeed.

"Well Jason Kidd is running a tight ship over there, and he wants to teach these young guys certain things. I can’t remember exactly what he did, but it was something that needed to be addressed. You know Giannis is a good kid, but he’s so young still.I think something happened in practice or whatever, and Jason Kidd was like, hey you’ve got to learn from your mistakes. It would happen throughout the course of the season, Giannis would do stuff once in the blue moon. But that’s a great, great kid, he works his butt off, he’s going to be a star. But I like J-Kidd’s whole thing, he’s going to nip it in the bud."

Dudley was viewed as a key figure in helping to develop the young Bucks as both players and leaders, and judging by the way he retells Giannis taking his punishment, he obviously did a great job of it.

"We were trying to change the culture, and I met with J-Kidd, captains did, and stood behind him. And Giannis with his thing took it on the chin, said it won’t ever happen again, and we’re going to move forward.Kidd may be a little quiet, and calm and reserved, but he’s an assassin."

Mar 30, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) is shown on the bench in the closing minute of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 101-88. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

It’s also worth noting that Giannis bounced back from being dropped with a colossal performance against the New York Knicks, so that statement seems to have some merit.

In a blog post just over a month ago, Giannis dipped into various minor details and stories from the season, one of which was “The Famous DNP” as he refers to it. Antetokounmpo admits that he was caught just as off-guard by that decision as everyone else was.

"I didn’t know it and I wasn’t expecting it. I really wanted to play in that game, in order to try and match up with LeBron James. I remember that in the previous meeting with Cleveland I played him well in the first half."

Antetokounmpo continued very much in the same vein as what Dudley said though, citing Kidd’s strict but fair treatment of him.

"Jason Kidd has helped me a lot. No other coach from the ones I’ve had up to this point in my career has been as strict with me as coach Kidd. Something that makes me better. Jason Kidd always lets me have it and that has a positive and constructive effect."

Many coaches would lean towards the arm around the shoulder approach with their young talent, so these glimpses inside the Bucks camp revealing that Kidd chooses a slightly tougher approach are interesting to say the least.

I guess as long as he’s fair, has the players’ respect, and gets results on the court, who would we be to complain either?

Next: Jared Dudley Reveals Details Of Milwaukee Bucks Exit

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