Drake’s ongoing mockery of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t making him many friends in Milwaukee.
Following Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Toronto on Tuesday, in which the rapper cackled at Antetokounmpo’s missed free throw attempt from the sidelines and gave Raptors coach Nick Nurse a shoulder rub, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer addressed Drake’s courtside presence.
“I will say, again, I see it in some timeouts, but I don’t know of any person that’s attending the game that isn’t a participant in the game, a coach — I’m sorry, a player or a coach, that has access to the court,” Budenholzer said, according to ESPN.
“I don’t know how much he’s on the court. It sounds like you guys are saying it’s more than I realize. There’s certainly no place for fans and, you know, whatever it is exactly that Drake is for the Toronto Raptors. You know, to be on the court, there’s boundaries and lines for a reason, and like I said, the league is usually pretty good at being on top of stuff like that.”
With the series currently tied at 2-2, tensions are expected to be high during Game 5 in Milwaukee on Thursday night.
Taking to Twitter, Georgios Dimitropoulos of Octagon Basketball Europe, which represents Antetokounmpo, blasted Drake’s behavior in a since-deleted message.
“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…,” Dimitropoulos wrote.
Drake reacted to the criticism on social media, captioning an Instagram photo of himself cheering at Game 4 with the emojis, “😂🧂🤷🏽♂️.” He also double-tapped a fan’s comment that read: “If you don’t want the opposing team to celebrate and dance, prevent them from scoring, winning, or achieving their objective. Get over it and keep it moving.”
The Raptors — and Drake — will return to home territory for Game 6 on Saturday in Toronto.