Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to learn a lot about the Boston Celtics over the next couple of weeks.
The Milwaukee Bucks star apparently didn't pay much attention to the C's second-half surge, followed by their first-round series sweep of the Brooklyn Nets. Asked about his team's upcoming Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup against Boston, Antetokounmpo made an interesting admission.
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"I don't watch basketball. I haven't watched Boston," he said. "No, I'm being serious. I don't watch basketball. I get too intense. I start sweating and stuff. My body gets tensed up. I'm sitting with my kids and I'm like, 'Breathe.' I can't watch basketball, so I haven't watched them. I don't know what they've done, but I know that's the team we're playing. I heard the guys talking about it in the locker room. So, I know they've been playing very good.
"I know they swept Brooklyn. Right? They swept Brooklyn? I know they're a very good team. Great young players. Players that can score the ball, they play hard defensively. It's going to be a nice series. We've gotta do it as a team."
It may seem like Antetokounmpo is being facetious, but this isn't the first time the two-time MVP has said something along these lines. In fact, he also told reporters he doesn't watch basketball during last year's Bucks-Nets playoff series.
Even if Antetokounmpo has watched more Celtics tape than he's letting on, he made a smart decision to not give the C's bulletin-board material. Nets guard Bruce Brown made that mistake before the first-round series that resulted in a sweep. Of course, we shouldn't rule out Boston finding a way to use Giannis' comments as motivation heading into the second-round series.
Boston Celtics
Game 1 between the Celtics and Bucks is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Sunday at TD Garden. For the full series schedule, go here.
NBC Sports Boston will have one-hour pregame shows and postgame shows before and after every game.