Giannis Antetokounmpo: The future of NBA
Giannis 'The Golden Boy' Antetokounmpo is leading the race for the MVP Award and is an odds-on favorite to win it. Due to his impressive performance, the Milwaukee Bucks are sitting on top of the Eastern Conference standings with 26 wins.
Born December 6, 1994, Giannis Antetokounmpo is a Greek professional basketball player, born in Athens, Greece. He started playing basketball in 2007 and started playing competitively for the youth squad of Filathlitikos.
In 2011, he joined the senior men's team, and played with them in Greece's semi-pro league, the Greek 3rd Division, during the 2011–12 season. Giannis was selected as the 15th overall pick of the first round in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
During his rookie season for the Bucks, he averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 77 appearances and was selected in the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie second team.
Fast forward to 2018-19 Season, Giannis also known as the 'Greek Freak' is regarded as a leading contender for the NBA Most Valuable Award. For October and November, he was selected as Eastern Conference Player of the month and became the first player in Bucks history to win Player of Month multiple times.
So far he has played 34 games and scored 26.3 points, 12.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game with an average time of 33.7 minutes on the court making him the best player in the league at the moment.
Antetokounmpo is leading the NBA's Eastern Conference in All-Star votes with 991,561 and counting, followed by Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics with 910,329 votes, Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors with 774,172 votes. He has scored 30 or more points in seven of his 13 games in December, including a career-high-tying 44 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Giannis just turned 24 last month and it looks like he will only get better with age. This season he is performing at his best and the Bucks are looking to win the Championship this season. It looks like he could go on to become the next face of NBA.