Mike Dunleavy’s connection to Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t begin with the Warriors’ reported trade interest in the Milwaukee Bucks star.
It reaches back over a decade.
As pointed out by The Athletic’s Nick Friedell, Dunleavy and Antetokounmpo matched up in the 2014-15 NBA playoffs as the Chicago Bulls faced off against the Bucks in a first-round series.
The Bulls were blowing out the Bucks in Game 6. In the second quarter, with Chicago up 30, Dunleavy lined up for a 3-point shot in transition. The then-20-year-old Bucks big man ran the length of the floor and leveled Dunleavy with a hit in the midsection well after the shot release, knocking the Bulls wing to the ground in front of the courtside seats.
Antetokounmpo was given a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2 and was ejected from the contest.
The game was getting chippy early. Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams took a hit in the face from Dunleavy as he attempted a layup in the first quarter. Just before Antetokounmpo lined up his shot on Dunleavy, he was knocked to the ground after contact with Dunleavy in the post.
Frustrations got the best of Antetokounmpo, and he took it out on Dunleavy. The NBA suspended him one game without pay, which Antetokounmpo served on opening night the following season.
“I got no issues with the guy,” Dunleavy said in May 2015 after the Bulls advanced (h/t Nick Friedell). Nice kid, young kid, going to be a really good player. Doesn’t change my feeling on wanting to get over to Mykonos.”
It seems that tensions between the two simmered down shortly after the incident, at least on Dunleavy’s side.
Nearly 11 years after the flagrant foul, Dunleavy and Antetokounmpo might find themselves on the same team, as the NBA world waits in anticipation to see what will happen before Thursday’s trade deadline.
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