By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets, but potentially even bigger news is Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return to the court.
He didn’t miss many games, but the hamstring issue sidelined him. However, he managed to recover quickly and continued to help the team secure the best possible position in the Eastern Conference standings before the playoffs.
“You try to control what you can control. Things like this are going to pop up now and then. Kind of unexpected, but at the end of the day, these are the cards you’ve been dealt, and you just have to keep on figuring it out, keep on playing through pain, playing through adversity,” Giannis said after scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a home victory over the Nets.
His 65th appearance of the season against Brooklyn made him eligible for individual rewards. However, he looks at the bigger picture.
“My goal was to play 82, but when the goal falls apart, you gotta fall back to the second one. There’s a bigger goal here to capture, and you have to think about the bigger picture. I could play through the pain, but it’s not smart in the long run.”
Antetokounmpo also mentioned the importance of having an experienced coach like Doc Rivers while dealing with injuries.
“He understands. He played and coached the game for a long time. He experienced the same kind of thing in his last two years in the League, so he knows how it feels, how painful it is, or if it is not painful. If I’m BSing, he can tell. It’s good to have a coach like that.”
Among the journalists interviewing him in the locker room after the game was his brother Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who asked him about playing through injury in the 2021 NBA Finals and helping his team win the championship.
“A lot of times, it got me into a position to be successful, but it also got me in a position not to be successful. My biggest strength as a person and a thing that allows me to be who I am is my stubbornness, but also it’s my biggest weakness. I had a conversation with Kobe in 2018, and he said: ‘My biggest strength is that I’m an a**hole, and my biggest weakness is that I’m an a**hole.’ So, sometimes, if you are able to channel your weakness the right way and be mature about it, it can allow you to be successful,” Giannis Antetokounmpo concluded.