With Giannis Antetokounmpo turning 30, the Bucks star admits he wants to be MVP again

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DETROIT — The Milwaukee Bucks have risen from the dead, and the man who’s rolled away the stone has put them on his back, like he should.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like an MVP, an award he won twice in his mid-20s. He and Damian Lillard are forming a chemistry that looks formidable, with Khris Middleton expected to make his season debut on Friday after double ankle surgery this offseason.

And Antetokounmpo, who turns 30 today, admits he wants a third Most Valuable Player award.

“Yeah, that definitely might put tears in my eyes,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports earlier this week. “I do want to be part of that conversation. It lets me know I was able to help my team, carry my team, solidified (us as a team).

“I’m not gonna lie, it definitely means something to me.”

The last few years Antetokounmpo has claimed winning the award didn’t mean much to him, but his tune has changed. Maybe it’s turning 30 and knowing he’s at a peak point. Perhaps it’s seeing Nikola Jokić win his third last year and looking very much like someone who can win a fourth this year.

Winning a third would push Antetokounmpo past Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash and into the same stratosphere with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, and the aforementioned Jokić. To boot, the last MVP to win the award age 30 and over was Nash during his age-30 and 31 seasons with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and ’06.

With the exception of Derrick Rose on the young end (22 years old in 2011) and Michael Jordan on the older end (35 in 1998), most MVPs are won by players between the ages of 25 and 28. Antetokounmpo won his two at 24 and 25.

“At this point in my career, I had the conversation with my brother, I was like, man, it’s crazy to me. I had just come to a realization that I might never win another MVP,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports. “I’m having better years than the years I won it. But hey, the league is improving, guys are playing very, very well.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-high 32.6 ppg. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

But Antetokounmpo’s consistency can be overlooked at times,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/with-giannis-antetokounmpo-turning-30-the-bucks-star-admits-he-wants-to-be-mvp-again-154745712.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-06 15:47:00

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