Giannis Antetokounmpo only thinking about winning
The reigning National Basketball League MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo could very well be set to win the league’s most prestigious individual award for the second consecutive season. He has had a stellar season with the Milwaukee Bucks, posting impressive numbers and leading them to the top of the competitive Eastern Conference.
According to the Buck’s swingman though, he isn’t thinking about any individual awards.
“To be honest with you, I really haven’t thought about it. I saw it a couple days ago, that it ended. I tried not to focus on the MVP talks — who’s the MVP and all that. My goal is to get better each day to help my team win games and everything is going to take care of itself,” Antetokounmpo told media following Milwaukee’s practice on Tuesday, via ESPN.
“That’s what happened last year. I was locked in and winning games and helping my teammates, and it took care of itself. So, that was my main focus. Now, I know it’s going to be a lot of people out there talking about the MVP, but that’s not my main focus.”
The NBA announced on Friday that none of the upcoming games inside the NBA bubble will be taken into consideration for the regular-season individual awards. Along with MVP, Giannis is also a strong candidate to take home Defensive Player of the Year and could become only the third player in league history to win both awards in the same season. If Antetokounmpo does manage to win both awards, it would put him in elite company with Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
As much as Bucks’ fans would love to see “The Greek Freak” win both awards, there is only one trophy that they really want to see him lifting when the dust is all settled.
There will be plenty of pressure on Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to get the job done this season after they were eliminated by the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference final last year. Despite finishing the regular season with the best record in the conference, they were unable to get past Toronto who ultimately went on to win defeat the Golden State Warriors and win the NBA Championship.
The Bucks haven’t won an NBA title since 1971, a fact that has not been lost on the reigning NBA MVP.
“My main focus is to get better, win games, help my team play good basketball and go and try to win the big trophy. The last time we did that was ’71, so that’s my main focus right now.”
Prior to play being halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bucks sat atop the Eastern Conference with a 6.5 game lead over the Toronto Raptors who were second. They are scheduled to take on Eastern Conference rivals the Boston Celtics in their first game back on July 31st at 6:30 pm E.T. The NBA will be playing all their games in Orlando, Florida, with the players all residing within the NBA bubble to ensure everyone’s safety.
