Despite everything that’s happening in and around him, one thing that has stayed certain from the last NBA season is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s consistency. The Greek Freak has played like an MVP all year and deserves major credit for helping the Milwaukee Bucks stay near the summit in the Eastern Conference.
After a rocky start, Antetokounmpo led the charge as the Milwaukee Bucks kept surging and are currently second in the East only behind Miami Heat. After winning the NBA Championship and also bagging the Finals MVP things can go south for many young players. But not in the case of Antetokounmpo as he was more spurred on and enthusiastic to defend this NBA title right after winning it.
The Bucks recently faced the Boston Celtics in a top of the table clash in the Eastern Conference where the Bucks came out victorious 127-121. Although the Celtics missed their talisman Jayson Tatum, they still gave a good fight. Antetokounmpo came up with a 29 point double double to seal the match for the Bucks as Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton also scored 29 and 22 points respectively. Brook Lopez was a big influence at center whereas Bobby Portis played a crucial role in scoring 17 points from the bench.
On “The Old Man & The Three,” former NBA veteran JJ Redick shared why he has been so impressed with how Giannis has played and highlighted how the Greek Freak has propelled the Bucks from a solid team to a Championship winning team.
“This guy wins two MVPs in a row, the following year wins an NBA Finals,” Redick said. “He’s MVP of the finals, has 50 in Game 6 in the closeout game. Short offseason, comes out looking for blood like he started the season.
“So, well, where a lot of guys with the short offseason probably would have taken it easy, probably would have taken games off, and he just came out like Giannis, 100 out of 100.”
Antetokounmpo has averaged 29.9 points, 11.6 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 55.4% and will definitely be in MVP conversations this season. His scoring average is as high as third in the league behind Joel Embiid and LeBron James.
Looking at the current condition in the East and the current form that the Bucks are in there is definitely a chance of making deep playoff runs as Antetokounmpo is in full flow and he will have the proven support cast from last season behind him as they aim to defend their championship.
