"I was done" - Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals the risk he took while playing with a knee injury during 2021 NBA Finals
The buzzer goes off. Giannis Antetokounmpo and "the Milwaukee Bucks are the league champions," the commentator screams! The Fiserv Forum went berserk as the Bucks won the NBA championship for the first time in 50 years, nothing short of a historical moment.
The Phoenix Suns were distraught, having taken a 2-0 lead to start the series. They lost their last four games, with Antetokounmpo putting in MVP performances every night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo opens up about the risk of playing through his knee injury in the NBA Finals.
"What basically happened is that if my leg had hyperextended one more time, I was done.”
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Antetokounmpo was the Finals MVP and rightfully so. He carried his team to a championship no one thought they could win. But he did so with an injury to his leg that could have been worse.
"Game 1, there was a play where Jae Crowder shot and I stepped on his leg,Giannis told Sam Amick of The Athletic. "And you know how he does this kick thing, and I literally tried to avoid him, and he kicked me on my leg and my leg hyperextended."
He revealed that the risk of hyperextending his leg existed, and if that were the case, his career could have been finished:
"What basically happened is that, if my leg had hyperextended one more time, I was done."
Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo risked a possible career-ending injury to help win the 2021 title
Giannis Antetokounmpo was not going to miss out on his first NBA Finals, but an ACL injury could certainly keep him off the court. Luckily for the Greak Freak, an MRI revealed there was no structural damage. It confirming a hyperextension to the knee.
The Milwaukee Bucks feared the worst could happen and tried to help prevent it since he insisted on playing. They came up with a specially-made brace for him to help cushion the pain and keep his ligament in place. Of course, Giannis being Giannis, refused.
"I don’t know if you’ve seen where people wear a big brace on your knee, like Goran Dragic wears. They told me, ‘Giannis, Tim Duncan wore this, (so) wear this.’ I said, ‘Heeeell, naw.’ They said, ‘Giannis, you need to wear this.’ And they had made one specifically for me. I said, “Hell, no. I’m not wearing that shit.”
2020-21 NBA Champion, 6x NBA All-Star, 2x NBA MVP, 2021 NBA Finals MVP, 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year and 75th Anniversary Team member…Giannis Antetokounmpo! #NBA75
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Asked why he refused to wear the brace, he shared a very emotional yet touching tale about his parents and their struggles. Taking a page off his parents' book, Antetokounmpo powered through the pain and was rewarded with his first championship ring.
"I have this mentality like, with my mom and dad, when they were working back home (in Greece), they felt no pain, you know? Like, why? Why would I feel pain, you know? They didn’t feel pain. They didn’t complain. You know, I didn’t see my dad cry when he was here. I didn’t see him saying, ‘I’m in pain.’ I don’t see my mom saying, ‘I’m in pain,’ and stuff like that. Why would I say I’m in pain? That’s how I’m raised. That’s how I’m built."