Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to win their second-ever NBA title and their first in over 50 years
The NBA Finals 2021 has just wrapped up and the Milwaukee Bucks are hailed as champions, after winning game six against the Phoenix Suns at the Fiserv Forum. The win marks the team's first champion trophy in over 50 years and only the second time for the team to take home the title in the sports' entire history.
The win was led by Giannis Antetokounmpo who put up a 50-point record, 14 rebounds, five blocked shots, securing Bucks' 105–98 victory from the Suns. Khris Middleton also scored 17 points while Bobby Portis counted in 16 points. Antetokounmpo the Athens-born athlete, also known as Greek Freak—for his size, speed and ball-handling skills—was awarded the Final's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
Antetokounmpo's performance in the winning game was hailed by commentators and fellow players as "one for the ages." According to a tweet by NBA, he was the first player to score at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and five blockers in a Finals game ever since blocks were first recorded in 1974. He's now also the seventh player to score at least 50 points during the championships.
See also: The New LVxNBA Collection Is A Celebration Of Pop Culture, Fashion And Sports
When accepting the Finals MVP award, Antetokounmpo said "I thank Milwaukee for believing in me, thank my teammates." He added that they, "played hard every freaking game. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here in this city, I wanted to do it with these guys so I'm happy. I'm happy that we were able to get it done."
The Suns lead the NBA Finals 2021 best-of-seven series with a 2-0 lead but the Bucks bounced back with the next four games creating the "Bucks in six" win. In the past two years, Bucks has been on the dominant team in the regular season—only to fall short in the play-offs.
During the post-press conference, Antetokounmpo said he didn't imagine a moment like this would happen when he began playing basketball, "I started playing basketball just to help my family. Tried to get them out of the struggle, the challenges we were facing when we were kids." He added, "I never thought I'm going to be 26 years old, with my team playing in the NBA Finals. Just playing—like, I was just happy just being like not even winning, just being a part of this, of this journey." He points to his two trophies beside him and said, "We've come a long way."
See also: Ambush x Nike x NBA Collaboration Drops—Dedicated To Female Basketball Fans