Golden State Warriors
Giannis #Giannis
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry couldn’t appear more different to the unknowing observer.
Antetokounmpo is characterized as a physical freak with his 7-foot, 242-pound muscular frame. Curry, who stands at 6-foot-3 with sneakers on and once nicknamed the “Baby-Faced Assassin”, is a freak, too, but more so in the sense of his amazing shooting ability.
“They’re also both great people,” Donte DiVincenzo said Tuesday before the Warriors take on the Milwaukee Bucks.
DiVincenzo would know best. He started his career with the Bucks but signed with the Warriors this offseason after a brief stint with the Sacramento Kings. He recalled their humble and down-to-earth personalities, which helps them jell well with guys in the locker room.
“Giannis’ dominance is more the physical, more the coming at you with every single possession. And Steph, sometimes you look up and you didn’t even know he had 30 points,” DiVincenzo said. “There’s just a different way of getting those points, getting those rhythm for those guys but ultimately what makes them special is they’re really cool off the court which allows the leadership stuff for people to follow them.”
It takes more than physical attributes to be a winner in this league. It’s one thing to put up gaudy numbers on a nightly basis; it’s another to motivate a team to a championship.
Curry has done that four times, including most recently this past summer. Antetokounmpo helped the Bucks overcome a 2-0 hole in the 2021 NBA Finals by winning four straight games over the Phoenix Suns to claim their second title in franchise history.
There’s a charm Curry and Antetokounmpo both possess. And that, in part, is what separates great players from otherworldly ones: The best that have ever been are able to balance their own sky-high expectations while pushing those around them to be better.
Curry and Antetokounmpo are prime examples of that.
“The beauty of both of those guys is they get everybody around them involved,” DiVincenzo said. “Even though they dominate the ball a lot, they know when to pick spots or when to be aggressive and when to move the ball.”
So, what’s it like to go to work every day with one of those two as a teammate?
“It’s fun,” DiVincenzo said. “When you have somebody that has great spirit, great energy with them, you want to be around them, you want to spend as much time around them to learn from them and I had that at both places.”
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