Antetokounmpo stayed and it pays off with title
This could have been the offseason in which Giannis Antetokounmpo entered the free-agent market and perhaps teamed up with another superstar to try winning multiple NBA titles together.
Antetokounmpo instead will spend the summer celebrating a championship he won with the team that picked him.
Leading the Bucks to their first NBA crown in half century rewarded Antetokounmpo for his December decision to sign a supermax extension with Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo averaged 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5 assists to help the Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 4-2 in the NBA Finals late Tuesday.
“I could go to a superteam and just do my part and win a championship,” Antetokounmpo said Tuesday as he was flanked by the Larry O’Brien trophy and his NBA Finals MVP trophy. “But this is the hard way to do it and this is the way to do it. And we did it.”
Antetokounmpo, 26, stuck with the franchise that had taken a chance on him eight years ago by selecting him with the 15th overall pick in the draft. He was just 18 then.
Loyalty matters to Antetokounmpo, who grew up dealing with poverty in Greece.
He spent much of his postgame news conference thanking the people who helped get him to this point. He praised the current and former Bucks officials who assisted in his development. He wore a T-shirt honoring Jim Paschke, who retired this year after broadcasting Bucks games for 35 seasons. He also thanked the city that has become his basketball home.
Antetokounmpo averaged 6.8 points his rookie year as Milwaukee staggered through a 15-67 season, but he developed into a two-time MVP while helping the Bucks emerge as annual contenders.
A surprising secondround loss to Miami in the playoff bubble last year could have caused Antetokounmpo to start planning his exit from Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo instead doubled down by signing that extension.
“This is my city,” Antetokounmpo said. “They trust me. They believe in me. They believe in us.”
PAUL VOWS TO RETURN
In his 16th season, Chris Paul took a risk, deciding that a young, unproven Phoenix Suns team was worth joining in his pursuit
of his first NBA championship.
To the surprise of just about everyone outside the locker room, it nearly worked.
Now the biggest immediate question for the Suns is this: will Paul be back to try again?
“I ain’t retiring, if that’s what you’re asking,” Paul said. “That’s out. So, back to work.”
The hurt was fresh for the Suns after the Bucksbeating Phoenix to win the NBA Finals in six games. The Suns won the first two games of the series, only to lose the next four. The
franchise has never won a title, losing in the Finals in 1976, 1993 and 2021.
Phoenix should have most of its rotation back next season. One of the few question marks is Paul, who can opt out of his 2021-22 contract and become a free agent.
He sounded like a man who wanted to return to the Suns. He brushed off a question about his future, saying “everything else will take care of itself.”
Devin Booker said: “So, we’re going to take this hurt and bring it into the summer and continue to get better.”