By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Greek Freak after becoming an All Star for the first time and also getting to start in the NBA All Star Game was the natural choice for this award.
Giannis becomes the fifth players from Europe to win the award averaging 22.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 5.4 asp. The jump in his stats is quite impressive since during the 2015-16 season he averaged 16.9 ppg, 7.7 rpg and 4.3 asp. What the numbers don’t show is how much he has matured and he emerged as the leader of the young Bucks who made it to the playoffs.
With him being just 22 years old, this is just the begining. It has to be noted that two other European rising stars, French Rudy Gobert from Utah and Serb Nikola Jokic from Denver were the other two finalists for the award. Here’s the list of the previous winners of this particular award from Europe.
|
Season |
Player |
Position |
Nationality |
Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 |
Gheorghe Mureșan |
Center | Romania | Washington Bullets |
| 2005–06 |
Boris Diaw |
Forward | France | Phoenix Suns |
| 2007–08 |
Hedo Türkoğlu |
Forward | Turkey | Orlando Magic |
| 2013–14 |
Goran Dragić |
Guard | Slovenia | Phoenix Suns |