Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo caps extraordinary postseason as NBA Finals MVP
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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’ 105-98 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 All-Star 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.
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Antetokounmpo is also the fifth international player to win the award (Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki).
NBA FINALS: Bucks finish off Suns for first championship in 50 years
It seems improbable to believe that even playing in the Finals was a real question for Antetokounmpo. 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:
Game 2
42 points (68.2% shooting), 12 rebounds, 4 assists
Game 3
41 points (60.9% shooting), 13 rebounds, six assists
Game 4
26 points (57.9% shooting) and pulled in 14 rebounds and handed out eight assists – and he came up with the signature defensive play of his career and one of the best in Finals history with a fourth-quarter block of Suns center Deandre Ayton.
Game 5
32 points (60.9% shooting) with nine rebounds and six assists. He also called for the ball on a soaring alley-oop dunk over Chris Paul at the end of the game.
Game 6
Saving his best for last, Antetokounmpo turned in a virtuoso performance. He emptied the whole bag, using a pump-fake on a three-pointer to blow by Ayton and finish with a spin move. He knocked down a three. He made 17 of his 19 free throws. He hit jumpers, layups and finished at the rim to clinch the series with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo caps extraordinary postseason as NBA Finals MVP