Antetokounmpo wins MVP for second straight season
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic year earned him a historic awards sweep.
The Milwaukee forward is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season, receiving that award Friday. He got the defensive player of the year award earlier in these NBA playoffs.
Antetokounmpo, 25, becomes just the third player in league history to win MVP and defensive player of the year in the same season, joining only Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
“Michael Jordan, one of the best players who’s ever done it, if not the best,” Antetokounmpo said. “Hakeem, a guy that I look up to, he came from where I’m from, Nigeria, where I have roots . ... Just being in the same sentence with them, that means a lot to me.”
Antetokounmpo — who was in his native Athens, Greece, with his family when the award was announced — received 85 votes from the 100-person panel of global sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league, plus the one additional vote granted by winning fan balloting.
“It feels good to get this award announced when I’m back home,” Antetokounmpo said, after telling NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — who was in possession of the trophy Friday — to hang on to the hardware until he returns to the U.S.
“I’m going to ship it to Greece,” Silver said during the televised announcement show on NBA TV.
“No, don’t do that,” Antetokounmpo replied. “I’ll come get it when the season starts.” LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers got the other 15 first-place votes and finished second, and James Harden of the Houston Rockets finished third. James has been first, second or third in the MVP voting 11 times now in his career, and Harden has been a top-three finisher in each of the last four seasons.
Antetokounmpo’s numbers this season were unprecedented, with averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Nobody had ever averaged those numbers over a full season.
Cycling
TOUR DE FRANCE HAS SLOVENIA EXCITED>>Tiny Slovenia is on edge. Two of its own, Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar, go into the last two stages of the Tour de France 1-2 in the general classification.
Neither has won the Tour before. If one of them does this weekend, they will also be the first champion from Slovenia.
The nation of just two million people, known more for its alpine skiers, ski jumpers and basketball players than cyclists, is expected to come to a standstill today as it watches the 20th and penultimate stage that will likely decide the Tour winner.
After Stage 19 on Friday, Roglic was still in the yellow jersey and leading Pogacar by 57 seconds.
Soren Kragh Andersen won Stage 19 to Champagnole, his second of the Tour after winning Stage 14.
The Tour has gripped Slovenes since Roglic won Stage 4, then became the first Slovene to wear the yellow jersey after Stage 9. He hasn’t take it off since then, and is poised to win a second straight Grand Tour after taking the Spanish Vuelta last year. But Pogacar has been on his countryman’s rear wheel for a week, and is a serious threat.
Roglic’s hometown of Zagorje ob Savi has prepared billboards reading “Primoz Roglic our pride” to go up when he wins.
NHL
KOIVU, WILD PART WAYS>>Mikko Koivu’s extraordinary career with the Minnesota Wild is over.
General manager Bill Guerin said the team will not resign the 37-year-old Finn, whose contract is expiring.
Koivu is the only fulltime captain the club has had — he was appointed in 2009 after the role was rotated monthly over the first nine years of the franchise. He is the all-time Wild leader in games, assists, points and several other categories.
Koivu returned from reconstructive right knee surgery for a 15th season and had four goals and 17 assists in 55 games while playing mostly on the fourth line.
STAMKOS OUT>>Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos (lower body) was ruled out of tonight’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. MCCANN RE-SIGNS WITH PENGUINS>>Jared McCann is sticking with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team announced it re-signed the 24-year-old forward to a two-year contract that runs through the 2021-22 season. The deal carries an average annual value of $2.94 million. McCann tied a career high with 35 points during the 2020-21 season, collecting 14 goals and 21 assists in 66 games.
Colleges
TWO FOOTBALL GAMES POSTPONED DUE TO VIRUS>>Baylor’s football season opener against Houston, scheduled less than a week ago, was one of two Bowl Subdivision games postponed Friday — the day before before they were supposed to play.
Florida Atlantic’s opener against Georgia Southern was postponed earlier in the day, following the results of FAU’s COVID-19 testing Thursday. In both cases, the schools involved said they would try to find make-up dates.
MAUI INVITATIONAL MOVES TO MAINLAND>>The Maui Invitational is moving to the mainland during the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the premier preseason tournaments on the college basketball schedule, the Maui Invitational will be played at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville, N.C.
Dates for the tournament announced have yet to be finalized. The NCAA announced Wednesday that the college basketball season will begin Nov. 25.
This year’s Maui Invitational field includes Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, Texas and UNLV.
Golf
GREEN, CLANTON LEAD LPGA EVENT IN PORTLAND>>
Hannah Green had to wait an extra day to open her title defense in the Cambria Portland Classic. Once she got going, about the only thing that slowed her was a 11/2-hour lightning delay and fading light. Green shot a 6-under 66 at Columbia Edgewater for a share of the lead with Cydney Clanton in the LPGA Tour event reduced to 54 holes because of poor air quality caused by wildfires. FURYK LEADS PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS EVENT>>Jim
Furyk birdied four of the last six holes for an 8-under 64 and the first-round lead in the PGA Tour Champions’ Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach.
Trying to join Arnold Palmer and Bruce Fleisher as the only players to win their first two starts on the senior tour, Furyk had a one-stroke lead over Ernie Els, Cameron Beckman and Stephen Leaney.
Tennis
INJURED OSAKA PULLS OUT OF FRENCH OPEN>>U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open because of an injured left hamstring.
Osaka joins defending champion Ash Barty in skipping the French Open, which opens on Sept. 27 in Paris. DJOKOVIC PRESSED>>Novak Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome with a 7-6 (7), 6-3 victory over fellow Serb Filip Krajinovic.
Djokovic will take on German Dominik Koepfer, who ended Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti’s dream run with a 6-4 6-0 win. Musetti, 18, had beaten Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori in the first two rounds.
Second seed Rafa Nadal, seeking his 10th title in Rome, also advanced with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Dusan Lajovic to set up a clash with Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Also at the Foro Italico, 15th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov ended the run of Italian teenager Jannik Sinner with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
Dimitrov’s quarterfinal opponent will be Denis Shapovalov, who rallied past Ugo Humbert 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4. Shapovalov reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in both singles and doubles.
Matteo Berrettini, the big-serving Roman who reached last year’s U.S. Open semifinals, beat Stefano Travaglia 7-6 (5), 7-6 (1). He’ll next meet Casper Ruud, who defeated Marin Cilic 6-2, 7-6 (6).
In the women’s field, top seeds Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova moved into the quarterfinals with straight sets victories while Yulia Putintseva beat Kazakh compatriot Elena Rybakina 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Motorsports
BRISCOE WINS XFINITY RACE AT BRISTOL>> The final regular-season race of the Xfinity Series proved to be a preview of the upcoming playoffs as title contenders Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric dominated yet another event.
Briscoe passed Cindric with five laps remaining at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, pouncing when Cindric lost power steering. Briscoe raced to his seriesbest seventh victory of the year while regular-season champion Cindric slipped to a third-place finish.
Ross Chastain, poised for a probable promotion to the Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing, followed Briscoe past Cindric in the waning laps and took second.