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Jamal Collier, ESPN
LAS VEGAS — After finishing his postgame press conference, with his NBA Cup MVP award to his left and a smile on his face, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to immerse himself in the moment.
“Oh man, what a feeling,” he said. “What a great feeling. I’ll see you again, I promise.”
As he walked down the hallway toward the locker room, he continued, “What a great feeling. What a great feeling.”
The Milwaukee Bucks had just won the 2024 NBA Championship on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena with a dominant 97-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Antetokounmpo was named MVP, adding to an already extensive resume of accolades. , including Finals MVP, two-time league MVP and NBA champion.
But the Bucks left the NBA-provided cases of champagne intact after the game. They skipped the traditional post-game locker room celebration and opted for a quieter scene, with the players dancing to the music and sipping drinks at their locker.
“Last time I drank some champagne when we won the championship. [in 2021]”I had like a cramp all over my body,” said Antetokounmpo, who finished with a triple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, laughing.
Two members of the Bucks organization, assistant coach Darvin Ham and forward Taurean Prince, were members of the Los Angeles Lakers last season when they won the inaugural NBA Cup. The Lakers celebrated with a shower of champagne, but struggled after the tournament, losing 10 of their next 13 games.
“It’s tough,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “You get out of this and get back to the routine.”
So the Bucks opted to skip the entire celebration, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t savor the moment. In fact, Antetokounmpo, who said he doesn’t drink, implored the team to celebrate the achievement.
“There has to be,” he said. “This has been a great trip. It has been a trip for six days, everyone has been focused, on time for the video sessions, very focused on the routes. In practice we were able to be very precise.”
That approach manifested itself throughout the NBA Championship as Milwaukee won all seven of its games. It was on display during a dominant defensive effort Tuesday night, when the Bucks held the Thunder to a season-low 81 points, including 31 points in the second half.
Milwaukee’s defense produced team-bests of the season in points allowed (81), field goal percentage (33.7%) and 3-point percentage (15.6%).
“We’ve shown that the team we started the season with is not the team we are now. And it was never who we really were. We just had a rough start.”
Bucks guard Damian Lillard
“I definitely think we made a statement defensively,” Prince said.
After starting the season with a 2-8 record, the Bucks have bounced back, beating the team with the best record in the Western Conference in the process. Rivers said it was the kind of victory that “reminds us that we can beat anyone.”
“We’ve shown that the team we started the season with is not the team we are now,” said Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who finished with 23 points. “And we were never who we really were. We just had a rough start.”
Since winning just two of their first 10 games, the Bucks have the best record in the NBA at 12-3. (Tuesday’s game does not count in the official classification). Antetokounmpo encouraged his teammates to enjoy the win, but he also wanted them to stay focused on how they’ve been playing over the last 15 games and keep moving forward.
“We just have to stay humble and keep getting better,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have a lot of basketball ahead of us. We play Cleveland on Friday. Very, very good team. They will be waiting for us. Right now, the excitement is at an all-time high. We have to bring it down, be humble once we get out of here Tomorrow, get back in the gym, lock yourself in, and hopefully we can go and get a win against the Cavs.”
