The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns 105-98 in Game Six of the NBA Finals Tuesday night to win the 2021 NBA Championship.
The Bucks battled adversity after dropping the first two games of the best-of-seven series, winning four straight contests to clinch the title.
It was the first championship for the Bucks since Kareem Abdul-Jabaar lead them to their first title in team history a half-century ago. They rode the motto “history in the making” throughout the entire playoffs.
Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to victory with one of the best all-time playoff performances, with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. The 26-year-old was unanimously named Finals MVP, winning his first championship in his career.
Most notably, Antetokounmpo shot 17-for-19 at the free throw line despite being 57 percent from the line in the playoffs. NBA players and analysts have criticized him in his career for being a below-average free throw shooter.
“People told me I can’t make free throws,” Antetokounmpo said in the post-game press conference. “I made my free throws tonight, and I’m a freaking champion.”
In comparison to other all-time greats, Antetokounmpo won his first title at 26, a year earlier than Michael Jordan and Lebron James when they were 27. His 50-point performance tied Bob Pettit’s 50 points in 1958 for most points in a finals-clinching win. After winning Finals MVP, he joins Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to win multiple MVPs, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
After many speculated Antetokounmpo would leave Milwaukee for a bigger market last year, he backed his loyalty with the Bucks by signing a five-year extension for $228 million. He mentioned the significance about winning with the team that drafted him in the post-game press conference Tuesday night.
“That’s my stubborn side,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s easy to go somewhere and go win a championship with somebody else. It’s easy. I could go to a superteam, and just do my part to win a championship. But this is the hard way to do it, and we did it.”
His performance didn’t go unnoticed, as the city Milwaukee came together in support of the Bucks outside of the Fiserv Forum in the Deer District. In addition to the roughly 18,000 fans in the stadium, the city blocked off several more blocks to host 65,000 fans for the outdoor viewing party.
Downtown Milwaukee’s thousands of fans witnessed fireworks over the Fiserv Forum late Tuesday night in celebration of the win.
There is a parade for the Bucks scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, starting at Museum Center Park, followed by a celebration in Deer District with fan giveaways at 12:30 p.m.
Sicck
Excellent job Jeromey!
Easy to read and great article.