Giannis Gets Away With Gross Travel Against Knicks, Breaks Internet
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo gets away with traveling every now and then, but his walk on Tuesday’s night in a game against the New York Knicks was absolutely the worst ever. The Greek Freak took as many as six steps on his way to the bucket, with the refs totally okay with it.
Even the broadcast booth couldn’t contain the disbelief. NBC’s Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford jaw-dropped on air, with Miller quipping, “Yeah, we could’ve played till we’re 50 if we get that runway!” Mike Tirico tried defending it via the NBA’s “gather step” rule—where players get two steps after securing the ball post-dribble—but the analysts weren’t buying it.
X (formerly Twitter) exploded. Knicks diehards led the charge: one fan joked, “Did @Giannis_An34 travel to Greece and back!” while another lamented, “I just watched Giannis travel to Greece on foot with a basketball…from Milwaukee.” A viral clip racked up over 13,000 likes, spawning gems like “Giannis just unlocked the Eurostep DLC: 6 steps, 0 travel calls”.
The non-call sparked broader gripes about NBA officiating, but amid the outrage, the humor won out. Memes flooded feeds, from exaggerated step-counts (“50 steps!”) to Photoshopped globetrotting adventures.
For Knicks supporters, it stung extra after a promising start; for everyone else, it was peak basketball chaos. Giannis later shrugged it off postgame, but one thing’s clear: the NBA needs to get a lot better at calling travels, especially when Antetokounmpo is playing.