NBA Finals Recap

 Simon B

Back in 2019 when the Toronto Raptors won their first-ever NBA Championship, the scenes in Jurassic Park (aka Maple Leafs Square) were absolutely crazy. Not to take anything away from the gatherings there was two years ago but Deer District in downtown Milwaukee last night was insane. Around 65 000 people gathered around the Fiserv Forum to watch the hometown Bucks win their first NBA title in 50 years. 

This series was a really special one for many reasons so let's get into it.

Freak turned to God

Giannis Antentokounmpo has most likely been given Greek God status and I'm sure someone is creating a sculpture and temple for him somewhere in Greece.

He had one of, if not the most impressive individual performances in an NBA finals series in history putting up at least 30 points in 5 of the six games in these finals and going off with 50 in the clinching game. He's the first player since the late 50's to score 50 in a championship-clinching game. 

In his post-game media conference, Buck's forward Khris Middleton admitted that Giannis carried the whole team to the title. And he's really not wrong. In game 4, Middleton and guard Jrue Holiday carried most of the load with Giannis only scoring 26 points - I use the term "only" very loosely -  in the win that at the time tied the series.

He had another level of competitiveness that no one on the Pheonix Suns could match. He was consistently grabbing his own rebounds, he would stretch way out of his comfort zones to make crazy blocks, and he was able to be productive from the free-throw line, which is something he has struggled with throughout his career. He told reporters after the game "every kid out there can achieve anything, they just have to work for it. Work hard and you can make it. Nobody thought I could make my free throws but look at tonight, I made my free throws!"

Many people think that "wanting it more" is a cliche that coaches use all the time to try and motivate their players and that it never works. I agree. If a coach tells me that I need to want it more, it's much more difficult than if that desire comes from within. And Giannis certainly did. 

Giannis is the perfect role model for people that struggle to make ends meet. He would be helping his dad sell items on the streets of Athens as a 13-year old, he was denied his Greek citizenship because his parents were immigrants from Nigeria, and he was never able to play youth sports. But 13 years later, he's an NBA Champion and a finals MVP. 

That is purely inspirational. 

The Setting Suns

They'll be back, there's no doubt about that. In how long? Who knows. Devin Booker mentioned that this was excellent experience for him. He was able to learn about what it takes to not only get to the NBA finals but also win it. At only 24 years old, he's undoubtedly going to be back on the finals stage. 

Chris Paul. You got to feel for the guy. At the end of game two when the Suns were up 2-0 in the series, Dwyane Wade came up to Paul and reminded him that he was only two wins away from his first NBA title. The 36-year-old has never won an NBA championship and he's one of the all-time greats to still not have a ring. You could tell that out of all the players on the Suns, he had the most determination. 

The rest of the team are young and just starting to gain experience and they know that they have what it takes to come back to this point and win it all. Ultimately, I think that's what separated the Bucks from Pheonix in this series.

"I did it the right way"

Giannis said after the game that he wouldn't want to go to a so-called "super team" and win a title there. 

A super team is when a bunch of superstars decides to get together on one team to try and win a championship as easily as possible. 

Recently we've seen this happen in Brooklyn with Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Blake Griffin all on the same team. The Clippers got Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to come to play together, and the Lakers have got LeBron and Anthony Davis (and are trying to trade for Wizards star Russell Westbrook).

Giannis said that he did it the "right way". I don't think there's a right or wrong way to win an NBA title but when you have a team that is miles better than all the others and when management didn't put the team together, it takes away from the specialty of the title. Players don't care about the city or the fans, they just want the title no matter how they can get it. 

The way the Bucks were able to win this championship is truly special to the city of Milwaukee and the entire Bucks organization because most of the team is composed of homegrown talent that they drafted and developed. The team means something to these players and the fans have watched them all the way through. From the time they entered the league as struggling rookies to the moment they lifted the Larry O' B above their heads. Winning the way the Bucks did this year or the way the Raptors did two years ago (yes I know they traded for Kawhi and Gasol but think of guys like Lowry, VanVleen, Norm Powell, and Pascal Siakam) in that there is a special connection that the team has with the city.

When Golden State won a few years back, the celebrations were pretty big, right? But compared to the 2 million people that showed up on the streets of Toronto for the Raptors parade, it's nothing. And Oakland certainly didn't have 65 000 people outside their stadium when they won either.

When a super team wins, it's not special because everyone expects that to happen. There's no element of grit and determination. The only element there is that one team was able to pay more money to attract more stars to their market and win what I'd call a "money title".

The Wrap

Now that the season is done, it's time for another to begin. The NBA's offseason is one of the most confusing and crazy things in sports. Hopefully, the season will start as normal this year and the NBA schedule will return to the normal 82 games. It's not going to be long until someone makes a blockbuster trade or a player says something that gets them traded because we all know NBA players have one of the largest platforms and influential personalities in all of the sports (for good and for bad).

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Thanks for reading!