“Y’all know it takes a lot for me to go 'wow' but this kid can do it all” - Shaquille O'Neal heaps praise on Giannis Antetokounmpo's evolution after his first NBA title
Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to draw the attention of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who seems to become a bigger fan of the Greek Freak with each passing day.
The Milwaukee Bucks star helped his team to yet another win on Thursday against the Boston Celtics. After the game, O'Neal heaped praise on Antetokounmpo for the improvements he has made to his game since winning his first championship last season. The Bucks talisman has shot the ball pretty well this campaign and has also been a reliable playmaker for his side.
Giannis records his 45th double-double.
29 PTS | 11 REB | 5 AST | 1 BLK | 2 STL https://t.co/QLx6xD2S7M
Here's what Shaquille O'Neal had to say about the two-time MVP forward on TNT's Inside the NBA show:
"You have to fail before you succeed. And we all saw him (Giannis) fail, we all said 'don't do this', 'don't do that', 'oh Giannis, he's dribbling too much, going to the wall'. He just kept coming, kept coming."
Shaq continued:
"They don't talk about the wall anymore, but like his game game from last year's championship to now, I'm like 'wow!' And y'all know it takes a lot for me to go 'wow!' But, man, this kid can do it all! His jumper now, I can's say nothing about his jumper at all."
Shaquille O'Neal impressed with Giannis Antetokounmpo's game
Shaquille O'Neal has always been hard on modern-day players. There are very few stars who he admires in today's game, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is among those O'Neal loves to watch in action.
Antetokounmpo's skillset has developed year after year. The "Greek Freak" has worked hard to evolve his game to be more impactful against his opponents, especially offensively. As Shaquille O'Neal mentioned, Giannis has worked on his jump shot this season, making him an unstoppable force to deal with.
He has been shooting well over 40% from mid-range this season, higher than his previous shooting splits, which were around the 30% mark. Additionally, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been running the plays with great effect for the Bucks team. This has made it unpredictable for opposition defenders to guard the defending champions as a unit.
Antetokounmpo's performances have been highly decisive for his side, as seen during Milwaukee's championship run last campaign. Their odds of winning back-to-back titles have increased too because of his development as an all-around player.
"This kid can do it all."
@SHAQ talks about @Giannis_An34's improvement since winning the title last season, https://t.co/TKhqgN8uEZ
Shaq admitted that he, too, felt more confident after winning his first title with the LA Lakers, which gave him the push to help the side win the title three times in a row. He was named the Finals MVP on all three occasions.
That could be the case with Giannis Antetokounmpo as well and the Bucks' chances of going back-to-back are looking bright right now.