50 Points For 50 Years Of Waiting: Giannis Brings It Home For Milwaukee

We recently covered what was no doubt a sensitive topic for some readers out there; The Most Painful Active Droughts In Sports. While they did not pop up on that shortlist, the 50 year title drought for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, dating all the way back to 1971, was definitely worthy of a spot. Well, as of Wednesday (NZT), we can happily report that they are no longer eligible, as they ended their half a century of misery by winning the 2021 NBA Championship, upsetting the favoured Phoenix Suns by a series score of 4-2.  

 

The story of the Finals, and really of the entire playoffs, was Bucks star and Finals MVP winner Giannis Antetokounmpo, who staked his claim as the best player in the sport with a remarkable run of performances. He capped his fantastic season with an iconic 50-point game in the series clinching 105-98 win in Game 6. Better known as the “Greek Freak”, the moment had been a long time coming for the 26-year-old Antetokounmpo, who, despite already having two NBA MVP’s (regular season) to his name, was beginning to face questions about his ability to ‘get the job done’ on the big stage. It’s safe to say he emphatically put those doubts to bed in this series, and with longtime ‘face’ of the league, 36-year-old LeBron James, seemingly finally facing the twilight of his career, the mantle could be Giannis’ to pick up for the years to come.  

 

It is worth noting that, in a playoff season marred by injuries to star players of several teams (the uncharacteristically long list of casualties included former champion’s Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis, and former MVP James Harden, among many others), it looked for a moment that Giannis and the Bucks’ hopes might also be dashed when the Greek star went down with a gruesome-looking leg injury in a Conference Finals game against the Atlanta Hawks. Evidently, they don’t call him the Greek Freak for nothing, as Antetokounmpo miraculously escape major injury and was back on court just over a week later for Game 1 of the Finals versus the Suns.     

 

Spare a thought, by the way, for those poor Phoenix Suns and their fans, who’s own title drought will extend to 54 years by the time the 2022 NBA Playoffs roll around next year. Unlike the Bucks, who had been sniffing the title picture for the past three years, the Suns came out of nowhere this past season after acquiring 36-year-old legend Chris Paul, and saw a remarkable turnaround from the 2019-20 season, where they found themselves outside the top 8 in their own conference and missing the playoffs for the tenth consecutive year. The run will surely be bittersweet for the Suns, whose dramatic improvement will now be overshadowed by the missed an opportunity (the Suns actually led the Bucks 2-0 before losing the next four games to lose the series) to finally end the championship drought.  

 

But the year belongs to Milwaukee, who’s 16,000+ fans inside their home Fiserv Forum were joined by tens of thousands on the streets outside to watch and celebrate their team finally getting over the line and bringing home the Larry O’Brien trophy. The Bucks will likely not be favoured repeat in 2022, with the injury-hampered Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers still preferred when push comes to shove (if all players are fit). But as we know, trophies aren’t handed out on reputation and games aren’t played on paper, and the Bucks more than earned theirs on the court this year. Let’s just hope, for their sake, it doesn’t take another half century to get their hands on the championship trophy again.   

 

Top image courtesy of Eric Kilby