Lifestyle/Culture
Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo Caps Extraordinary Postseason as NBA Finals MVP By Jim Owczarski He suffered a hyperextended left knee in the Eastern Conference finals June 29 and somehow found a way to play in Game 1 on July 6. He played 35 minutes in his Finals debut, scoring 20 points on 54.5% shooting, pulling down 17 rebounds and handing out four assists. He followed it up by making history in every game afterward. Star big men Giannis Antetokounmpo and Deandre Ayton highlight a large number of players of African origin playing in this season’s NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns. Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrates during the Bucks' Game 6 win That list includes the Bucks’ over the Suns. © Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sport Antetokounmpo (Nigeria), GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO COMPLETED Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Nigeria), Jordan the career most valuable player trifecta by being Nwora (Nigeria), Mamadi Diakite (Guinea) and named the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP on Axel Toupane (Senegal), and the Suns’ Ayton Tuesday night after the Milwaukee Bucks’ 105- (Nigeria) and Abdel Nader (Egypt). The presence 98 championship-clinching victory over the of so many players from Africa in the Finals is the result of the league’s nearly 20-year presence on Phoenix Suns at Fiserv Forum. Antetokounmpo becomes just the 11th player the continent, from basketball camps to full-on in league history to have won the regular-season academic institutions, and its continued efforts to MVP (2018, 2019), a Finals MVP (2021) and an All- bring more prominence and interest to the game Star Game MVP (2021). He and Michael Jordan of basketball to people across the globe. are the only players to claim those honors and also “For the NBA, it speaks to the growing a Defensive Player of the Year award. internationalization/globalization of our league He also joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only and specifically speaks to the growth of the game Bucks players to have won regular-season and in Africa and with Africans,” NBA Africa CEO Victor Finals MVPs. They are two of just 17 players to Williams told The Undefeated. earn that distinction in league history. www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/milwaukeeAntetokounmpo is also the fifth international bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-caps-extraordinaryplayer to win the award (Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim postseason-as-nba-finals-mvp/ar-AAMntoV Duncan, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki). https://theundefeated.com/features/the-nba-finalsIt seems improbable to believe that even playing in features-a-strong-african-coalition/ the Finals was a real question for Antetokounmpo. 99
July-August 2021
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