Giannis Antetookounmpo is on a very short list of active players that can make genuine runs at being remembered as the greatest player of all time. Antetokounmpo has won basically every accolade available to him and will try to add the scoring title to that this season.
However, nobody expected Giannis to have achieved everything he has already in 2013 when he was drafted #15 by the Milwaukee Bucks. Everyone knew he had high potential, but his floor was highly questioned. All those doubters were wrong, as Giannis will go into the 2022 NBA Playoffs as the reigning Finals MVP.
Giannis saw the writing on the wall when nobody believed in him, which is telling from this video that is making its rounds on social media where reporters laugh at Giannis after he tells them he wants to be MVP one day.
A reporter noted in the video that Giannis’s eyes glittered while talking about the trophy, maybe foreshadowing the path we were headed on. Giannis won back-to-back MVPs in 2019 and 2020, but fell short in the playoffs both years and was unable to make even the NBA Finals.
2021 was very different, as Giannis quietly developed his jump shot from the mid-range and from the three. Despite shooting struggles through stretches during the season and the playoffs, Giannis was clutch every time the team needed him to help them advance further down the rounds.
Giannis' rise is incredible 👏
Sources have told @wojespn that he's won back-to-back MVP awards. pic.twitter.com/UvDzFg0EaG
— ESPN (@espn) September 18, 2020
Giannis dropped a 50-point performance in the championship clincher in Game 6 against the Phoenix Suns. Legends like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never closed out a championship series with a 50-piece, but Giannis did.
The reporters that chuckled at Giannis back then evidently didn’t see the storm that would be coming. But to be fair, nobody except Giannis believed in him actually achieving this, and that’s all that mattered.
