Giannis Antetokounmpo silenced his critics and proved the doubters wrong. Just take a look at the highly coveted hardware in his arms.
Behind a historic 50-point performance from the superstar forward, the Milwaukee Bucks finally reached basketball's pinnacle on Tuesday night, defeating the Phoenix Suns, 105-98, in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals. According to StatMuse, Antetokounmpo became the first player in league history to record 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a Finals game. And he accomplished the feat with a hyperextended left knee.
"Giannis Antetokounmpo is a problem. And for all the holes that are in Giannis' game, man, you've got to give him credit," JR said during Tuesday's edition of the JR SportBrief show. "He's unique, he's a Greek Freak. He's going to get all the respect he deserves, and he can still get better... Congrats to Giannis. Hell of a story. Disney owns his story, you will hear and see about it. And now they can put a cap on it as champion... This has been a perfect storm for the Milwaukee Bucks to win a championship.
"This would've been a perfect storm if the Suns would've walked away with a championship. That's not to take away or detract from anything that the Milwaukee Bucks have accomplished. They won. They beat who was in front of them, and walked away with the title. They beat the brakes off of the Heat, who beat them last year. They beat the Brooklyn Nets, who were injured. They beat the Hawks. They came back from down 2-0, and they beat the Phoenix Suns. You can't take anything away from them."
Antetokounmpo, who was awarded the Finals MVP, averaged a team-high 30.2 points and 12.8 rebounds in 21 games this postseason. According to ESPN Stats & Info, he's the only player in history with an NBA championship, multiple MVP's, a Finals MVP, a Defensive Player of the Year award, five All-Star selections, and five All-NBA selections before his 27th birthday.
Milwaukee, which won its second title in franchise history and first since 1971, is just the fifth team in history to rally from an 0-2 series deficit and win the NBA Finals. As for Suns veteran guard Chris Paul, he lost a league record fourth-career best-of-seven playoff series in which his team led 2-0.
JR's complete thoughts on the Bucks and NBA Finals can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.