Table of Contents
Giannis Antetokounmpo Discloses Shocking Fact
Milwaukee Bucks supporters assumed they were doomed when Giannis Antetokounmpo curled up in a ball on the floor of the State Farm Arena, gripping his left knee in anguish after colliding with Clint Capela.
At the time, it didn’t appear likely that the Greek Freak would be able to return at any point during the playoffs.
Antetokounmpo not only returned to the court three games later, but he also delivered one of the greatest individual NBA Finals performances of all time.
He did it all on one leg.
Giannis Antetokounmpo created history in the 2021 NBA Finals by standing on one leg
After hyperextending his left knee against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Antetokounmpo returned roughly a week later and put up 20 points and 17 rebounds against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
He backed it up with 42 points and 12 rebounds in Game 2, but Milwaukee fell behind by two games early in the series.
Giannis went nuclear from there.
Antetokounmpo scored 37.3 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game over the next four games to lead the Bucks to their first championship since 1971.
He finished off the Suns with one of the most remarkable final-game performances in league history, a 50-point, 14-rebound, five-block performance in Game 6 to become Finals MVP.
It was the first time in NBA Finals history that a player had 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in a game.
As it turns out, Antetokounmpo’s unprecedented performance was supported by only one working leg.
Antetokounmpo discloses alarming information regarding his knee injury
Giannis revealed the stunning reality in a recent interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“Basically, if my leg hyperextended one more time, I was done,” Antetokounmpo explained.
When you hyperextend (your knee), something (in your leg) prevents you from going all the way back.
So that item was ripped. So if I went all the way back, that’d be it for me.”
The Bucks attempted to persuade Antetokounmpo to wear a knee brace throughout the Finals, but he declined.
“Hell. No. “I’m not going to wear that s***,” he recalled saying.
One false move might have ruined not only Milwaukee’s hopes of winning a championship, but also Antetokounmpo’s future career.
Still, the thought of sitting out never occurred to him.
Also, read Giancarlo Stanton, Matthew Christopher Schnell, John Daly’s Married Life:
Uses his parents to distract himself from the misery
Giannis is the person he is now as a result of his parents.
Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo grew raised in Nigeria and immigrated to Greece to provide their children a better life.
Despite not having enough money to maintain their family as they desired, they tried everything they could to assist Giannis to achieve his NBA ambition.
Antetokounmpo has always admired his parents’ tenacity in the face of adversity, and he harnessed that strength while recovering from a knee injury.
“I have this mentality like, when my parents and dad were working back home (in Greece), they didn’t feel any discomfort, you know?” Why, for example? “I mean, why would I feel pain?” Antetokoumpo revealed to The Athletic.
“They were not in pain.
They made no complaint. I didn’t see my father cry when he was here.
I didn’t hear him say, ‘I’m in agony,’ nor did I hear my mother say, ‘I’m in pain,’ or anything like that.
That’s how I was brought up. That’s how I’m made.”
Think again if you thought Giannis couldn’t get any more likable than he already was.
Sportscasting has a Facebook page. Follow @sportscasting19 on Twitter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Has Been Grossly Underappreciated in This Year’s NBA MVP Race
