A touching ceremony for Giannis Antetokounmpo was organised by the Milwaukee Bucks before their game against the Grizzlies.
The Bucks prepared a special jersey for the Greek Freak after his great performances in the last 12 years in the NBA.
As it was written on the jersey, Giannis Antetokounmpo has scored 14,214 points and distributed 3,273 assists in 712 games with the Bucks, performances that have made him the leading basketball player in the team's history.
By Giannis Antetokounmpo's side was his entire family - his wife , their two children, his mother and his brother Thanasis, who was wearing the Bucks jersey.
For his part, Giannis Antetokounmpo did not make any statement but sent his message to Bucks fans by forming the number "2" with his fingers and showing that his goal this year is to bring the second NBA championship to Milwaukee.
After giving numerous autographs to the youngest Bucks fans at Fiserv Forum, he was stopped for the post-game interview. It was intriguing to hear Giannis’ opinion about the MVP craze and the media attention it recently got.
“I will never try to create a narrative about the work I put in and maybe that might hurt me because I believe the last five years I’ve been the MVP. Do I want a third MVP? Hell f--king yeah I want a third one. I am extremely competitive. I try to make my team successful.
"That’s what I get paid for. That’s what I’m here for. I’m never going to be one who discredits anybody else’s work. That’s not who I am as a person. And I will never beg for an MVP award that I believe I deserve.
"I’m very proud that I’m able to play at an MVP level because that means I’m making my team very successful. That’s the goal.”
As seen by many, Giannis is the most dominant offensive force in the league and plausibly the best two-way player, considering he also has a Defensive Player of the Year award at home.
The Milwaukee Bucks hold the best record in the NBA at 58-23, and that’s with their second-best player Khris Middleton only playing in 33 games this season. Antetokounmpo took another step this season, averaging a career-high 31.1 points with the addition of 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 32.1 minutes per game.
During the interview, Giannis commented on possible voter fatigue in his MVP case.
“Maybe people are just tired of me. And look, I’ll be tired of myself too.
"I’m not going to lie, Mariah [Riddlesprigger], my significant other, is tired of me too. But at the end of the day, I will try to be consistent, I will try to be as dominant as I can and I will try to help my team be successful for as many years as I can and in as many years as my legs allow me to be.
"Eventually, they’re going to be like, ‘Man, give this guy this MVP because goddamn, he’s still here.’ That’s what’s going to happen.”
The 2019 and 2020 MVP never named his main opponents (sic. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid) for this year’s title during the interview, which says about his respect towards them. In his final words, he also commented on his desire to win the MVP title again in his career.
“Do I wish to get one more? One hundred percent. The goal is to play at an MVP level. Now, I could play at an MVP level and never be blessed with another MVP...I really believe from the bottom of my heart that eventually I’ll get another one. Until then, I’m trying to get that second ring.”
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