The Bucks have reacted to Giannis Antetokounmpo not grabbing the top spot in the MVP race and while some think he deserved it, others are of thought that he’s been winning the MVP too much, and according to ESPN;
As Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo stepped up to the free throw line with 5:46 remaining in the fourth quarter Sunday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, the sold-out crowd at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum began to serenade him with a familiar tune.
“M-V-P!” “M-V-P!”
Antetokounmpo was putting the finishing touches on another dominant performance in a 117-104 victory. He scored 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out six assists to outduel Sixers star Joel Embiid and put the stamp on Milwaukee’s 56th win of the season, the most in the NBA.
The victory brought the Bucks closer to locking up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference — they lead the Boston Celtics by two games with four remaining — and added more fuel to Antetokounmpo’s case for a third Most Valuable Player award.
“We certainly feel like Giannis is the MVP,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Best player, best record, what he does on both ends of the court, the rebounding, the blocked shots, the defense, guarding on the perimeter. He does everything: play-makes, attacks, gets to the free throw line. We feel like he’s in the conversation and he should be the guy.”
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, is averaging a career-best 31.1 points on 55% shooting to go along with 11.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 62 games this season.
While he expressed gratitude for being considered among the leaders for the award, Antetokounmpo said he was not focused on trying to win MVP, keeping the emphasis on the Bucks’ goals as a team.
In ESPN’s latest MVP straw poll conducted last week, Antetokounmpo finished third behind Embiid and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, with Antetokounmpo grabbing 18 of a possible 100 first-place votes.
“[Antetokounmpo] has been MVP too much,” Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said of why his teammate has been overlooked in the conversation. “He’s been doing this too much, I feel like people get bored of it. It’s kind of like the [LeBron James] effect. LeBron has done it so many times that people think that it’s normal now. And it’s not.
“But [Antetokounmpo] makes it look so easy. The first couple years that he got it, it’s like, wow, nobody can do [that], and it’s still, to this day, nobody can do what he does. He’s [on] the No. 1 team, not just in the East, but in the league.”
Giannis seems to be the clear MVP. He is on the best team in the EAST and his numbers overall are better than Embiid’s. Jokic is #1 in the West averaging a triple-double. Everyone is worthy, but Giannis would get my vote.