Milwaukee Bucks talisman Giannis Antetokounmpo has overtaken Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s tally to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. The Greek Freak scored 44 points against Brooklyn Nets on Thursday to write his name in the history books.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 14211 points for Milwaukee Bucks in his glorious career and Antetokounmpo now has 14216 points under his belt after coming up with another scintillating performance.
The talisman hit the tying 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining on the clock to force the game into overtime. The Bucks were able to win the contest by 120-119.
Apart from scoring 44 points, the 27-year old from Athens scored 14 rebounds and provided six assists.
”It’s good because I’m changing the narrative,” Antetokounmpo said while discussing the record. “I don’t want to be the guy only that dunks and runs. I can make a 3.”
Antentokounmpo has been performing consistently and his teammate Jrue Holiday showered praise on him.
“That’s definitely the MVP,” Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said. “That’s definitely Most Improved Player, which I’m not even sure he can get that at this point. He’s improved his game a lot and it’s shown — from the free-throw line, to his fadeaway, to his 3-point shot. From last year to this year, it’s so much better. I felt like us kind of hanging on his coattails and being able to ride his coattail in that way gives us confidence as well.”
Antetokounmpo knows he is going to be judged by how many titles he wins and not the records he makes. The linchpin wants to stay humble while performing at his best in the NBA.
“It doesn’t really matter,” he said of his latest achievement. “Because at the end of the day if you don’t have a successful season, if you don’t try and keep getting better and staying humble and staying happy, play all the way until May, June, nobody’s going to remember this.”
Antetokounmpo added: “So I just want us to stay humble. I want myself to stay humble. I felt like the more humble I get and the more hungry I stay, the more things I can accomplish. The more art I can create. Playing basketball is like creating art so — the more I can prolong my career. So I just got to keep staying humbled, keep trying to make my teammates great, win games, and good things like tonight will happen.”
The defending champions are now 48-28 and they will next face LA Clippers on Friday.
