“The epidemic is spreading!” J.J. Watt baffled by Giannis Antetokounmpo getting ejected for a mere stare down

Before becoming his college football sensation, J.J. Watt used to play basketball for his high school team.

“The epidemic is spreading!” J.J. Watt baffled by Giannis Antetokounmpo getting ejected for a mere stare down

Giannis Antetokounmpo and J.J. Watt (Via Oregon Live/Houston Texas Store)

Looks like the NFL star J.J. Watt is diverting his interest elsewhere, as he took retirement from football last year, in 2022. And by ‘elsewhere’ it, of course, means basketball aka NBA. Before becoming a football sensation in his college, followed by the 2011 NFL drafting, Watt used to play basketball for his school high, Pewaukee High School.

As he is retired from the NFL, the five-times Pro Bowler is taking more interest in his long-lost love for the basketball court. Speaking of which, Watt recently blurted out his frustration over a basketball game, in which Milwaukee Bucke star Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected for a mere stare-down by the referees.

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The former defensive end of the Arizona Cardinals expressed his disappointment, writing:

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The epidemic is spreading… In what world is this an ejectable offense?
JJ Watt on X

Watt also shared a clip from the NBA game, where Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected for “two sportsmanlike technical fouls” against the Detroit Pistons. The incident was from the third quarter of Wednesday’s game when the two-time MVP strongly dunked on Detroit’s centre Isaiah Stewart, with a brief stare-down before he went on to hustle back on defense.

However, the officials believed even that brief stare-down to Stewart was enough to proclaim his second technical foul, leading to his ejection from the game. He received his first technical foul in the first quarter for using expletive to the referees. Despite the officials ejecting him, according to the rules as they said, this action was highly criticized because Giannis Antetokounmpo’s actions in the game were not to the level of a technical foul.

Has J.J. Watt played basketball?

After over a decade of playing football and dominating the field, Cardinals defensive end Watt decided to retire after last season. After leaving football, many of Watt’s other talents, or rather sports interests started shining. One of those was basketball.

J.J. Watt
J.J. Watt college basketball (Via Wisconsin Sports Network)

When he was in school, Watt used to play basketball for his Pewaukee High School team. As he dominated the NFL field, he used to shine on the basketball court. Though he played basketball for a brief duration of time, he sure made an impression.

Apart from football, the NFL star also had interests in playing hockey and competing in shot put, as he was a multi-sports athlete. In his 11 years in the NFL, Watt was named Pro Bowl five times and Defensive Player of the Year three times.

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