By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Falling shy of winning the season MVP award over the last two seasons motivated Giannis Antetokounmpo to work even harder. Getting the third MVP nod would certainly be great but the goal is to keep playing at an MVP level.
“Look, I will never try to create a narrative about the work I put in and maybe that might hurt me because I believe the last five years I’ve been the MVP,” he said in an interview with Bleacher Report.
“I am extremely competitive. I try to make my team successful. That’s what I get paid for. That’s what I’m here for. I’m never going to be one who discredits anybody else’s work. That’s not who I am as a person. And I will never beg for an MVP award that I believe I deserve,” he added presenting his case for a third MVP award, “I’m very proud that I’m able to play at an MVP level because that means I’m making my team very successful. That’s the goal.”
The Freak was among the contenders in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, but fellow European star Nikola Jokic ended up being named season MVP. Besides battling the Denver Nuggets star, the Philadelphia 76ers powerhouse Joel Embiid was and remains another threat in spoiling the plans for the Greek international. However, Antetokounmpo stayed away from naming other MVP candidates.
“Can I say this? Two of the MVPs I won in the last five years, those were my two worst seasons,” he instead focused on his own efforts, “Go pull up the stats… But it doesn’t even matter. I’ve tried to avoid this conversation at all costs. I don’t ever want to drive a narrative and have my kids seeing their father whining about an award because, at the end of the day, it’s all a part of history. I don’t want to win that way.”
Antetokounmpo, 28, moving from a relatively unknown 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft to the franchise cornerstone in Milwaukee is a well-documented story, including the film Rise released in 2022. He was the MVP in 2019 and 2020, and went on to win the championship as the Finals MVP in 2021, but definitely wants more.
“Maybe people are just tired of me”
In the 2022-23 Regular Season, he averaged 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. The leading player for the Bucks finishing with a league-high 58-24 record. Under unofficial MVP rules, that alone would be enough for him to earn the award for the third time.
“Maybe people are just tired of me. And look, I’ll be tired of myself too. I’m not going to lie,” he shared another possible explanation for missing additional distinctions, “Mariah [Riddlesprigger], my significant other, is tired of me too. But at the end of the day, I will try to be consistent, I will try to be as dominant as I can and I will try to help my team be successful for as many years as I can and in as many years as my legs allow me to be. Eventually, they’re going to be like, ‘Man, give this guy this MVP because goddamn, he’s still here.’ That’s what’s going to happen.”
Apart from the race of the season standouts to be named the most valuable player, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks are waiting for the first-round opponent in the 2023 Playoffs. It will be the team ending up as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Play-Ins.
“I’m extremely blessed to have two MVPs,” he underlined, “I could pull out a lot of facts and data to make a case for myself on why I feel people are discrediting my game, but I’m here to win a championship and that goal will never change. I will never go out here to create a narrative and say, ‘I’m this, I’m that, I’m the most handsome guy and you should look this way because I’m the coolest.’ No, that’s not me. I really believe from the bottom of my heart that eventually I’ll get another one. Until then, I’m trying to get that second ring.”
The league is expected to soon announce the candidates for the 2022-23 Regular Season MVP along with the remaining awards and later the winners.
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