I am a Chicago Bulls fan, but I am very proud of our neighbors the Milwaukee Bucks on winning there first NBA Championship since 1971 as they beat the Phoenix Suns in 6 games. As much as I am happy for the Milwaukee Bucks, I do feel bad as well for Chris Paull, HC Monty Williams and the Phoenix Suns who are still looking for their first NBA Championship. The Bucks became the 3rd team in NBA Finals history to lose the first two games of the NBA Finals and then win the next four straight games to win the NBA Championship. Remember all that talk that if the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t make a deep playoff run that HC Mike Budenholzer was going to lose his job, well since the Bucks just won it all he is about to get a big-time extension. Remember if Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets had his foot behind the 3 point line in game 7 of the second round of the NBA Playoffs the Nets would of moved on to the ECF not the Bucks. Remember all that talk that Giannis Antetokounmpo The “Greek Freak” had to join a super team to win an NBA Championship but he stayed patient by staying in Milwaukee and he can now add NBA champion to his resume. Remember when Giannis suffered that scary looking knee injury against the Atlanta Hawks in game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks and everyone thought his season was over. Well Giannis didn’t miss any games. Rememeber the Bucks were known as having good regular seasons but coming up short in the playoffs, well the Bucks finally won it all.
Yes I know the NBA was a shorter 72 game season than the usual 82 game because of the Covid-19 pandemic and there was a short off-season and when the playoffs started a lot of big name players were out due to injuries but the Bucks and Suns were able to make it to the NBA Finals. After the Suns won the first two games in Phoenix and the Bucks winning the next two games in Milwaukee I thought this would be a series where the home team wins ever game but the Bucks were able to get a huge win in Phoenix in game 5. Jrue Holiday got a huge steal off Devin Booker and then made a perfect pass to Giannis for an amazing dunk. Giannis was able to tip the ball out to his all star teammate Khris Middleton for a huge offensive rebound where then Middleton hit 1/2 foul shots to make it a 4 point game as the Bucks win 123-119 in Phoenix. When the Bucks big 3 of Giannis, Middleton and Holiday all go off they are very tough to beat. With the series switching back to Milwaukee at Fiserv Fourm where not only there would be a full crowd inside the arena and around 60,000 fans outside at the Deer District, I knew the Bucks would win game 6 because they are playing in front of there home crowd and they have the momentum. Giannis scored 50 points in the game 6 clincher which are the most in an NBA Finals closeout game since Hall of Famer Bob Pettit scored 50 points in the 1958 NBA Finals for the then St. Louis Hawks. Giannis finished with 50 points along with 14 rebounds and 5 block shots. Khris Middleton had huge 4th quarters throughout these NBA Playoffs while Jrue Holiday played great defense on Chris Paul. The most iconic play from the Greek Freak in these NBA Finals was late in the 4th quarter in game 4 where Giannis blocked Deandre Ayton from tying the game on an alley oop pass from Devin Booker. Best block in an NBA Finals game since the LeBron James chase down block on Andre Iguodala in game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. How about Bucks GM Jon Horst getting PJ Tucker from the Houston Rockets who played great defense on guys like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Jae Crowder.
When the Bucks won the NBA Championship for the first time in 50 years the crowd went wild all over downtown Milwaukee. Bucks won game 6 105-98 in an electric atmosphere at Fiserv Fourm and close to 60,000 fans outside in the deer district. What’s great about the Bucks winning it all is a small market team won the NBA Championship and Giannis is humble and he solidified his resume with his first NBA Championship. Giannis of course was voted NBA Finals MVP. Speaking of the “Greek Freak” joins NBA Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon to win an NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP a Defensive Player of the Year. Giannis is the 7th player in NBA history to have 50 points in the Finals. LeBron James in 2018 and Michael Jordan in 1993 are last the two players before Giannis to have a 50 point game in an NBA Finals game. Giannis is the 9th player to win multiple MVPs and a Finals MVP in his career. The only players to do this at the age of 26 or younger are Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Giannis is the only player in NBA history with 5 All-Star selections, 5 All-NBA selections, multiple MVPs, 1 Finals MVP and 1 DPOY before his 27th birthday. The future is so bright for Giannis. I wouldn’t be surprised one day if he is the best player in all of the NBA. The Phoenix Suns may of lost but they have a very bright future ahead. The last time the Bucks won it all was 70-71 when the Bucks had Hall of Famers in Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar aka Lew Alcindor. The legacy of Giannis Antetokounmpo will only grow from here as the Greak Freak capped off an amazing playoff run with an NBA Championship.