MILWAUKEE — Battling through a troublesome injury to his dominant right hand, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is overcoming nagging pain and a negligent MVP conversation with one overarching goal to fuel him: a second NBA championship.
Now 28 years old, Giannis has accomplished feats that most players could only dream of. Early into what’s considered an NBA star’s prime, ‘the Greek Freak’ already has MVPs, All-NBA selections and a Finals MVP for the Bucks’ 2021 NBA Championship victory under his belt. If he were to retire today, Giannis would already be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
But through all of the success, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s hunger isn’t close to being satiated. During a recent sit-down with national NBA Insider Sam Amick, Giannis offered a mostly unfiltered look into his mindset late in this season.
The MVP race has been pared down to Giannis, reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and back-to-back runner-up Joel Embiid. Although the national media favors Jokic for a third year in a row, Milwaukee’s star has fallen victim to voter fatigue — a sensation which may confuse Giannis, but hasn’t jaded his focus on bringing another title to his city.
“[The championship] was the greatest feeling in my life, and I definitely want to repeat that feeling. And I want to do it again with my teammates, and I want us to be the last team standing,” Antetokounmpo told Amick during their sit-down. “I want for those two, three months of the summer to feel like I’m the best player in the world, where our team has won the whole thing and I was the last guy standing.”
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His quest for league supremacy persists through peculiar circumstances for the Bucks — the first team to reach 50 wins for the best record in the NBA this season despite harrowing injury luck dating back to last season.
Giannis has missed 15 games between knee, hand and minor yet consistent injuries suffered throughout this season. His running mate, Khris Middleton, has appeared in just 25 games and started only 11 of them so far. Other key members of the rotation including Bobby Portis, Joe Ingles and Pat Connaughton have missed extended time to rehabilitate from injuries.
Through the power of continuity, chemistry and a cunning two-way philosophy instilled by head coach Mike Budenzholer, this Bucks core remains a resolute institution within the evolving Eastern Conference landscape. Notwithstanding, the Bucks need Giannis Antetokounmpo at full strength if they are going to win 16 postseason games and claim the 2023 NBA title.
The star forward missed Milwaukee’s March 11 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors. After the contest, Amick saw him struggling to open a juice box for his 3-year-old son with his injured right hand.
Two days later, Giannis returned to post 46 points and 12 rebounds against the Kings, leaving Sacramento with his hand wrapped in ice and gauze. The night after that, he finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists against a Phoenix Suns club he defeated in his first Finals two seasons ago.
Giannis admitted to Amick that “I need to get healthy,” but otherwise, the superstar forward did not linger on his injury. Without so much as a twinge, he took 10 needles into his right hand as part of a “dry needling treatment” after his game in Phoenix.
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Through pain substantial enough to limit a man’s ability to pierce a juice box for his toddler, the superstar is locked into the core tenets that make him an all-timer in the first place — family values, hard work and an undying commitment to claiming the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Maintaining a combined level of uncanny individual output and obsession with winning would normally surge a player to the top of the MVP ladder, but the criteria tend to change based on who is in contention.
Even while admitting that he didn’t understand the current MVP criteria, Giannis remained indifferent on his candidacy for the award. At each mention of the MVP, Giannis turned his attention to his true goal of establishing a championship dynasty in Milwaukee.
This is a sentiment he recently shared with his teammates, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and his brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, in the team’s treatment room.
“I was saying I would do some pretty wild stuff to win a championship,” Giannis admitted to Amick. He wouldn’t share the specifics of that conversation, but he conceded that he would do “some pretty wild stuff” to reach the mountaintop once again.
More wild than playing through a nagging injury to his dominant hand late in the regular season? Only Giannis, Jrue, Brook & Thanasis know the answer to that.
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