Among the NBA’s biggest names, Giannis Antetokounmpo has a reputation for really taking his sweet time before shooting free throws. It’s sometimes to the point that opposing fans count out the seconds as Antetokounmpo preps a shot, anticipating a 10-second free throw violation for a delay to wave off the basket.
During a heavyweight fight between the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, Nikola Jokić had seen enough of Antetokounmpo’s hijinks at the stripe.
In a video from Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob on Twitter), Jokic is seen slowly lobbying the refs on different trips about Antetokounmpo taking way too long to shoot his free throws. You can almost see Jokić grow more frustrated and impatient in each instance before he finally turns to an official and points a hand at them during some crunch-time Antetokounmpo shots.
And this time, they seemed to listen to the Nuggets star’s pleas as Antetokounmpo was finally called for a delay. They waved off one of his free throw attempts in a futile Bucks’ rally attempt as Jokić’s Nuggets eventually prevailed 113-107:
Jokic lobbies the officials into calling a 10-second free throw violation on Giannis pic.twitter.com/nTkmquX5mF
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 30, 2024
Kudos to Jokić for actually talking to the officials and bringing it to their attention. It’s little battles like this that can clearly make all the difference. But after sequences like this, it seems apparent that the NBA shouldn’t leave 10-second free throw violations up to referees’ discretion, especially when considering guys like Antetokounmpo are straddling that line all the time. Opposing players shouldn’t have to lobby for these violations at all.
Installing something like baseball’s pitch clock with 10 seconds on the hoop for free throws wouldn’t be the worst idea. It also definitely wouldn’t be a problem for the vast majority of NBA players, who usually just take a breath, dribble, and then shoot.
