Giannis Antetokounmpo has already accomplished so much in his NBA career. In 9 seasons, he has won a title, a Finals MVP, 2 MVPs, and a Defensive Player of the Year award to go with 4 appearances in the All-NBA First Team as well as All-Defensive First Team. To put that into some context, only one other player has achieved all of that in their first 9 seasons, and that is Michael Jordan.
We doubt anyone would have foreseen Giannis turning into this incredible player and it is a testament to his work ethic as well as his determination to be great. He has worked extremely hard to get to where he is at this point and is widely regarded now as the best player in the NBA.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Explained How Kobe Bryant Inspired Him
A name that often comes up when we talk about Giannis is Kobe Bryant. Bryant had once famously laid down the challenge to Giannis that he should aim for MVP, and once Giannis did that in 2019, Kobe wanted him to go on and win a championship, which he did in 2021. Bryant was a big inspiration for Giannis, and he recently wore a Kobe t-shirt at a press conference for the NBA Abu Dhabi Games. He also spoke about how Kobe’s journey inspired him.
(starts at 0:30 mark):
Giannis speaks on how Kobe Bryant's journey has inspired him, and his Kobe Bryant t-shirt. pic.twitter.com/0dl60FEnRt
— NBA (@NBA) October 6, 2022
“Obviously he is one of the best players to ever play this game. I love his journey, how he came to the league, how he keep on getting better. How he was one of the best players in the game but he was always a kid, he was always curious to learn more. But at the end of the day, I believe it’s not only about talent. Talent takes you to a point. It’s about how disciplined you are. How you can wake up every single day, find ways to get better, to improve, and not be satisfied. At the end of the day, I believe the best players to ever play this game, they never got bored. They were able to wake up and find a new challenge to kind of tune them in to be great, go out there and dominate even more. Go out there and create more moments, more art. So I feel like he was never bored even when he went down with his injury he was able to come back and play. In his last game, he had 60 points. Unbelievable story, unbelievable journey, unbelievable talent, unbelievable human being, and this game can never be talked about without talking about Kobe Bryant.”
Kobe inspired so many of the stars who are playing in the league today, and it would have been great if he could see all this for himself. His journey in the NBA was so inspirational, as was all that he was doing off the court after his retirement.
Giannis also recently spoke about what skills he would take from the NBA legends of the past. He once again paid tribute to Bryant there by saying he would take Kobe’s footwork.
