Viewers on DStv can look forward to seeing Greek-Nigerian basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo in NBA Regular Season action this week, as the 26-year-old looks to steer the Milwaukee Bucks to victory in Massachusetts.
Antetokounmpo was the driving force behind the Bucks winning the NBA Championship last season, with the Milwaukee franchise claiming their second title a full 50 years after the first (1971 and 2021). Yet with the Greek-Nigerian again leading their charge in 2021-22, there is hope that a third crown will be just around the corner.
“If you’re a competitor, your mind creates something different, a different challenge. You might say, ‘OK I did it one time, I need to do it a second time.’ And when you do it a second time, you want to do it a third time,” said Antetokounmpo of his desire to see the Bucks become the next great dynasty in the NBA.
“We’re still the Milwaukee Bucks. At the end of the day, there’s a lot of people out there that still don’t believe we can do it again,” he added.
Antetokounmpo has already found his place among the basketball legends: in October he was named to the NBA’s list of the 75 greatest players of all-time at the start of his ninth year in the NBA. He is already a two-time MVP. He has won a Defensive Player of the Year award. He has made five consecutive All-Star teams.
And the Bucks have a tight-knit core group, which – if they can all remain fit and firing – will make them one of the top contenders for the Championship. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant certainly sees them as major rivals.
“[They] have a core of guys that have been together for four or five years,” Durant said. “And then the whole coaching staff just getting more comfortable with each other and then having some success winning a championship, that naturally brings confidence.
“That will be good for them all year. I know they are going to use that to squeeze out games – that experience of winning a championship and going through deep runs together – that is going to win them a few games this year.”
Milwaukee forward Khris Middleton added, “We definitely have a lot more confidence in ourselves. It’s natural, we should. We are the champs. We’ve been through every type of situation you could go through. So at the same time, you know what to expect. There’s no need to worry about failing because you know what you need to do.”
Their next test will come against an old foe: the Boston Celtics. Milwaukee and Boston’s rivalry dates back all the way to 1968 and has seen the teams clash in no less than 258 times across both the Regular Season and the Playoffs.
This time around they will face off at the TD Garden in Boston on the morning of Saturday 13 November, with the gameLIVE on ESPN 2 from 02:30 CAT.
See Giannis Antetokounmpo in the following match live on ESPN 2:
- All times CAT
Saturday 13 November
- 02:30: NBA Regular Season, Boston Celtics v Milwaukee Bucks – LIVE on ESPN 2