Giannis Antetokounmpo thinks that he was heavily underestimated as a complete basketball player capable of passing ahead of 2021 playoffs.
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There has never been a happier time in the city of Milwaukee than over the past 3 days or so. The city is on a high after Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks secured their second NBA championship in franchise history.
The team finished its championship parade yesterday, getting up to all the usual shenanigans characteristic of these occasions. The likes of PJ Tucker and Pat Connaughton caught a ton of attention for their wild, once-in-a-lifetime celebrations.
However, Giannis seems to already be focused on winning next year’s championship for his city. After all, true champions can hardly sit silently and bask in the glory of their achievements like ordinary people. This restlessness keeps them on the edge and sharpens them.
There’s no doubt that the Bucks’ title defense will be another monumental task. It has never been easy to get through 4 playoff series, but it was even harder in the current pandemic environment.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was smarting after being underestimated as a passer
Giannis spoke to senior Athletic Bucks beat writer Eric Nehm after leading the team through its championship parade. He showed basketball fans a whole new side to his personality that we didn’t know about before.
For most fans, the Greek Freak was only a freak in the physical sense of the word. But he showed his true Mamba mentality and how he took slights from opponents personally in his response to Nehm’s question regarding his outlook for these playoffs.
“First of all, let’s start with this, motherfuckers did not know I could pass. Because I was never at that level. We were never at the top level so they could see.”
“So now they were able to experience how good Khris (Middleton) is, how good Jrue (Holiday) is, how good I am, how smart we are. That’s it.”
Giannis finished the NBA Finals with superhuman averages of 35.2 points and 13 rebounds per game on 61.5% shooting. The key stat that he’s alluding to, however, is in the assists column. The Freak averaged 5 assists per game in the biggest series of his career.
There’s obviously a ton of scope for Giannis to become a better passer. As he understands the game more and more, he’ll reduce his silly mistakes and lapses of concentration even further. This prospect is truly a scary one for the rest of the league.
