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Giannis Antetokounmpo thinks he has his fourth triple-double of the season. In the dying moments of a 117-111 victory over the Washington Wizards, he dribbled to the basket and rebounded a shot he intentionally missed for himself.
“I think about scoring the ball, but I think in that situation it’s better to keep the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “But yeah, I’m just trying to play the game smart and steal.”
However, the NBA revoked the 10th rebound on Monday after an internal review. The reason comes from league rules that state that for a field-goal attempt to be considered official, the player must shoot “with the intent to score a field goal”.
Antetokounmpo made no secret of his intent as he collected the ball from Wizards guard Corey Kispert with 11 seconds remaining. With the opposition defense allowing him to run, he opted not to score but threw the ball from the backboard as the buzzer went off.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo intentionally threw away a rebound to set himself up for a triple-double at the buzzer to earn his second triple-double of the NBA season.
It seems that there are qualms for obvious stat-padding at the time from either side and the game ended in favor of the Bucks.
But where the statistician on the site is credited with a missed shot that leads to an all-important rebound, the league’s review panel, which regularly makes changes to correct errors or omissions, is removed on the same day.
This is not the first time he has done something like this. In 2004, Atlanta Hawks guard Bob Sura was denied in a similar situation. Fans who can think back may remember a memorable moment with Ricky Davis in 2003.
The Cleveland Cavaliers man had 26 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds over the Utah Jazz, knowing he was one spot away from his first career triple-double. When Jumaine Jones inbounded the ball to him near the basket, Davis had one thing on his mind. Instead of running down the clock, he lobbed a soft flip from the backboard and collected his shot.
The irony is that like Sura and Giannis, Davis wasn’t credited with the rebound, and his final stats from the game meant he fell.
Antetokounmpo did it too. He officially finished with 23 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. The stat adjustment dropped the rebound average from 11.94 per game to 11.92 – but the shooting percentage, with “taken” misses also removed, improved from .538 to .539.
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