Giannis Antetokounmpo Claims First All-Star MVP Award
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first NBA All-Star MVP award with a perfect shooting performance on Sunday night.
Giannis Antetokounpo shot 16 of 16 from the field, a record-breaking return in the NBA All-Star game. The previous record of most shots without a miss was Hal Greener’s 8 for 8 back in 1968.
As Team LeBron James beat team Kevin Durant 170 – 150, Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with a game high 35 points.Â
It was his first MVP award, and to make it extra special, it’s the first All-Star MVP award to be named after Kobe Bryant.
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“You know, usually it is closed [on Sundays],” Antetokounmpo said, “but for me, it was open extended hours.”
“It [a perfect shooting night] actually wasn’t, [on my mind]” he said. “I was just trying to just play. When you’re around guys like [Damian Lillard] and [Stephen Curry] and Chris Paul, it’s just easy. Nobody is worrying about me. I’m just playing one-on-one, nobody is double-teaming. If you feel good, then I feel good that it will be good. I just get up and have fun and just try to get as many shots as I can.”
Stephen Curry finished with 28 points, and Damian Lillard had 32 points. Giannis ultimately saw off the challenge from those two to claim the MVP award.
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“Obviously, I’m extremely happy at just having the award with the name of Kobe Bryant in my house,” he said. “It’s a great feeling. I wanted to win the one last year really bad and I had a chance to win because I felt like I wanted to have the trophy in my house, but this year I wasn’t even thinking about winning it, I was just thinking about having fun, and I had the opportunity to play well.
“My team played great, and I was able to just win it and to have the trophy with the name of Kobe Bryant, it’s amazing, and I know he would be happy. Yeah, I know he’d be happy.”
