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Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo Caps Extraordinary Postseason as NBA Finals MVP
By Jim Owczarski
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO COMPLETED
the career most valuable player trifecta by being named the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP on Tuesday night after the Milwaukee Bucks’ 10598 championship-clinching victory over the Phoenix Suns at Fiserv Forum.
Antetokounmpo becomes just the 11th player in league history to have won the regular-season MVP (2018, 2019), a Finals MVP (2021) and an AllStar Game MVP (2021). He and Michael Jordan are the only players to claim those honors and also a Defensive Player of the Year award.
He also joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only Bucks players to have won regular-season and Finals MVPs. They are two of just 17 players to earn that distinction in league history.
Antetokounmpo is also the fi fth international player to win the award (Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki).
It seems improbable to believe that even playing in the Finals was a real question for Antetokounmpo.
He suff ered a hyperextended left knee in the Eastern Conference fi nals 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 Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrates during the Bucks' Game 6 win Bucks and Phoenix Suns. over the Suns. © Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sport That list includes the Bucks’ Antetokounmpo (Nigeria), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Nigeria), Jordan Nwora (Nigeria), Mamadi Diakite (Guinea) and Axel Toupane (Senegal), and the Suns’ Ayton (Nigeria) and Abdel Nader (Egypt). The presence of so many players from Africa in the Finals is the result of the league’s nearly 20-year presence on the continent, from basketball camps to full-on academic institutions, and its continued eff orts to bring more prominence and interest to the game of basketball to people across the globe. “For the NBA, it speaks to the growing internationalization/globalization of our league and specifi cally speaks to the growth of the game in Africa and with Africans,” NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams told The Undefeated. www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/milwaukeebucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-caps-extraordinarypostseason-as-nba-fi nals-mvp/ar-AAMntoV https://theundefeated.com/features/the-nba-fi nalsfeatures-a-strong-african-coalition/