26-year-old Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player, Giannis Sina Antetokounmpo guided his team, Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA Championship where they faced off against Phoenix Suns.
Giannis scored 50 points in a series, clinching 105-98 Game 6 victory that ended the Bucks’ 50-year title drought and cemented his legacy among the pantheon of Milwaukee Bucks’ greats.
The last time the Bucks won a Championship was in 1971 when Abdul Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led them to their first championship.
Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP finished the game with one of the most impressive stat lines in NBA Finals history – 50 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks. He becomes the seventh player in NBA history to score 50-plus points in a Finals game.
He also accounted for 47.6 percent of Milwaukee’s points on Tuesday night which is the fourth-highest in a Finals game in the shot-clock era.
Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor are the only players to record a higher percentage during that span. As a result of his performance throughout the series, Antetokounmpo was named Finals MVP.
“I want to thank Milwaukee for believing in me, thank my teammates,” said Antetokounmpo after accepting the Finals MVP award. “They played hard every freaking game. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here in this city, I wanted to do it with these guys, so I’m happy. I’m happy that we were able to get it done.”
“No matter whatever you feel, when you feel down, when things look like it might not happen for you, you might not make it — your career might be basketball, it might be anything — just believe in what you’re doing. Keep working. Don’t let nobody tell you what you can’t be and what you cannot do.
“This should make every person, every kid, everybody around the world believe in their dreams,”he added.
“He’s a special human being. I’ve learned so much from him. He’s a special leader,” said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “These players are champions every day. They’ve embraced getting better every day.”
An expanded “Deer District” party zone outside the sold-out 20,000-seat arena welcomed 65,000 people watching on videoscreens and they had the celebration they had hoped to enjoy.
“I’m happy I was able to do it with this team for Milwaukee,” said Antetokounmpo. “And Coach Bud says we have to do it again.”
Phoenix’s Jae Crowder made two free throws to pull the Suns within 100-96 with 1:14 remaining but Middleton answered with a jumper and added two free throws for an eight-point Milwaukee lead.
Paul missed a 3-pointer, Middleton grabbed the rebound and Bucks fans began celebrating.
“They made timely shots, we didn’t,” Paul said. “We didn’t get stops when we needed to and they just beat us.”
Middleton added 17 points for the Bucks while Bobby Portis had 16 off the Bucks bench and Jrue Holiday had 12 points and 11 assists.
Devin Booker added 19 points for Phoenix while Crowder had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Suns.
Paul fell to 0-13 in playoff games when game-six referee crew chief Scott Foster officiated. Paul had been critical of Foster after past outings.
The streak included Milwaukee’s win in game three of the finals, in which Antetokounmpo had 17 free throws and the Suns had only 16.
In game six, the Suns went 16-of-19 from the line, matching Antetokounmpo’s free throw total, while the Bucks were 25-of-29.
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