Bucks pregame dance gets attention after Griffin firing, but it's not all that different from a typical game

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith was among the pundits who noticed a social-media post from the Milwaukee Bucks showcasing the team's pregame routine, when they danced on the court just moments before taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

It's a normal scene for those who follow the Bucks, but it was a notable occasion given that the Bucks were playing one day after the franchise had fired first-year coach Adrian Griffin.

Smith called the Bucks "tone deaf" Thursday for the routine, which he viewed as a celebratory act at the expense of Griffin.

"To have the very first game after his dismissal, and y'all acting like that," Smith said. "Clearly, you're either tone deaf — which is bad in and of itself — or, you really didn't care. You wanted the world to know how happy you are that he's gone. … These guys are usually class personified. They conduct themselves in very high and pristine fashion. They're to be admired and revered. And then last night happened, and I think the best thing to say is that it was not their shining moment."

It should be noted that the Bucks engage in some sort of hype dance before virtually every game, and the Bucks' X account posts a video of it before just about every game, although it usually takes place in the tunnel before taking the floor.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the team's win over Cleveland that players didn't want to use the coaching change as an excuse to tear the team apart and instead use it to bring everyone closer, so it also stands to reason the Bucks were trying to accentuate their togetherness.

"Cleveland, they're a great team, they've been playing very, very well lately," Antetokounmpo said. "A week ago, they beat us by 40. We play them again on Friday. At the end of the day, with all the news that happened yesterday, I think the guys came in and said, 'We have to be one. We have to become one.'

"There's a lot of people that spoke up and say either this is going to tear us apart and we're just gonna be like, OK, we'll make excuses, this happened, that happened, this is taking place and for us not to do what we are here to do, or are we going to come together and we're going to try to be better from this? I feel like guys did that."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks pregame dance gets attention after Griffin firing, but it's not all that atypical