Drake is known to be the life of the party whenever he stops by a basketball game — but Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer is not exactly a fan.
The “Nonstop” rapper, 32, was particularly lively while rooting for the Toronto Raptors during their game against the Bucks on Tuesday, May 21. At one point, he even stood up to give a quick shoulder rub to Raptors coach Nick Nurse. In the end, Drake turned out to be good luck for his hometown team, which won 120-102 and tied the Eastern Conference finals 2-2.
A day after the game, Budenholzer, 49, shared his brutally honest thoughts on celebrities receiving special treatment and having access to the court.
“There’s certainly no place for fans and, you know, whatever it is exactly that Drake is for the Toronto Raptors,” he said during a conference call, via ESPN. “You know, to be on the court, there’s boundaries and lines for a reason, and like I said, the league is usually pretty good at being on top of stuff like that.”
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s former agent Georgios Dimitropoulos also took aim at Drake in a since-deleted tweet on Wednesday, May 22. “Imagine a gig & an athlete on VIP seats, right next to the band, stands up on the stage just to show off during the entire game, knowing cameras are on him, occasionally even massaging the singer,” he wrote. “Security&him both allow it. Never seen anything as disrespectful as this before.”
The four-time Grammy winner took to Instagram later on Wednesday to respond to the criticism. He uploaded a photo of himself celebrating the Raptors’ success on the court, captioned with three emojis: a laughing-crying face, a salt shaker and a man shrugging.
Drake then posted a screenshot on his Instagram Story that showed him “liking” a fan’s comment that read, “If you don’t want the opposing team to celebrate and dance, prevent them from scoring, winning, or achieving their objective. Get over it and keep it moving.”
Nurse, for his part, told reporters on Wednesday that he “didn’t even feel” the MC’s shoulder rub because he was “so locked into the game.”
