Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time MVP award winner, has found himself in the MVP discussion since his breakout season in 2018-19. However, this season Giannis finished third in the race as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander secured his first MVP award. The Bucks‘ forward took to social media and expressed his take on the result as Shams Charania, the NBA Insider for ESPN, announced the award.
“What??!!!! Did shams got hacked no way this is true??!!”, wrote Antetokounmpo on X.
Now Giannis’ response could mean one of two things. Considering his funny personality, Giannis is likely just overreacting as a joke on the general notion of how fans respond to Shams Charania’s X posts. Or, he is genuinely in disbelief over Gilgeous-Alexander winning this award over the three-time winner Nikola Jokic.
What??!!!! Did shams got hacked no way this is true??!! https://t.co/XLMkdD9WJH
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) May 21, 2025
To be fair, Nikola Jokic averaged a triple-double for the first time in his career. The same achievement won Russell Westbrook his MVP award in 2017, despite the Thunder finishing 6th in the Western Conference that season. However, the NBA did not apply the same standard to Jokic and gave the award to Gilgeous-Alexander instead.
So either Giannis is genuinely shocked by the result, which is highly unlikely, as the media narrative for the past few weeks made it clear that Gilgeous-Alexander is the favorite to win. Or, Giannis was just overreacting as a joke on the internet, which is much more consistent with his personality.
NBA MVP Voting Results: Giannis Antetokounmpo Finishes Third
According to the NBA MVP voting results, a total of 12 players received votes to win the Michael Jordan trophy this season. From Evan Mobley (one vote) to even LeBron James at age 40 (14 votes, 16 points), some bizarre names had also made it into the consideration for this season’s MVP award.
Cade Cunningham of the Pistons, James Harden of the Clippers, and Jalen Brunson of the Knicks are some of the bizarre names that have managed to make this list despite not having an MVP-caliber season.
LeBron James finished 6th in the MVP vote pic.twitter.com/MvKgiIOcz3
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) May 21, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander, however, had a comfortable lead in the race as he got 42 more first-place votes than Nikola Jokic, who finished second in the race. Gilgeous Alexander finished with 913 points in the race, meanwhile, Jokic had 787, and Antetokounmpo had 470. Antetokounmpo was nearly a unanimous third-place finisher in this list, as 88 out of the 100 votes that came in for this poll said Antetokounmpo belonged third on this list.
Antetokounmpo finished the season with a first-round exit in the Playoffs to the Pacers and is now anticipated to ask for a trade from the Bucks. Will the Greek superstar regain his MVP mojo elsewhere, or will he continue in Milwaukee? It will be one of the most interesting storylines to keep an eye on in the summer.
