Don’t Freak out
Garnett: Giannis has right pieces with Bucks
Only five players in NBA history have won both Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year in their careers. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most recent to do so, winning the league’s top individual defense honors the season after winning his first league MVP last year. Antetokounmpo is expected to repeat as MVP this season.
The other four players to achieve both feats are Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Michael Jordan. Antetokounmpo is the only one of these players who has not won an NBA championship, let alone made an NBA Finals appearance.
Antetokounmpo’s free agency has become the talk of the town. His Bucks were swiftly removed from championship contention via a gentleman’s sweep after the Miami Heat beat them, 4-1, in the second round of the playoffs. Milwaukee’s only victory came in a game Antetkounmpo played only 11 minutes. He sprained his ankle early in Game 4 and never returned for the series.
The question now, while Antetokounmpo takes a week-long vacation, is whether the reigning MVP leaves in free agency or signs a contract extension that could be the richest in NBA history.
Garnett, who won a championship with the 2008 Celtics, said The Greek Freak has the pieces in Milwaukee to win it all.
“Listen. You can never have enough. The league is always going to promote talented teams, but if those teams don’t jell and don’t have a certain type of chemistry to go forward and to win, sometimes the pedigree doesn’t align. Sometimes the talent doesn’t align,” Garnett told the Daily News after Game 4. “I think he has enough in this league to be able to win it.
“Khris Middleton is showing that he can take over a game and carry a team. I think (Eric) Bledsoe has to be a lot more consistent in what he’s doing, and then Brook Lopez, people are counting out what he’s gonna give you.
He’s been the focal point of a franchise before. He’s carried a team. He can score the ball in a multitude of ways. They have shooting, they have a bench. They have all these pieces.”
Bledsoe’s production has been under scrutiny since the Bucks decided against re-signing Malcolm Brogdon as a restricted free agent. Bledsoe averaged 12 points and six assists in the playoffs this season. The issue: The Bucks need more from the point guard spot, and Brogdon, who signed with the Pacers last summer, averaged 21.5 points and 10 assists against the Heat in the first round.
Garnett still feels the Bucks have enough to win a championship and that this elimination is an opportunity to prove their resilience.
“See, this is when you get hit in the mouth as a team and people are like ‘oh, maybe they’re not that good,’” Garnett continued. “No, they’re good. Miami’s just making the proper adjustments to this series, and I expect Milwaukee to make some adjustments at some point if they want to stay alive.”