Giannis’ Game 6 the Ultimate Exclamation Point on an All-Time Great Finals – Bleacher Report

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Giannis Antetokounmpo's ascension from a mysterious non-lottery pick in 2013 to a Finals MVP is complete, thanks to the Milwaukee Bucks' 105-98 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 on Tuesday.

In a closeout game that featured Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, no one shined anywhere near as bright as Giannis, whose50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks put him in exceptionally rare company.

The list of ways you can contextualize what Giannis did during this postseason, this Finals and this Game 6 could probably go on a while longer.

The arc of his entire career bears mentioning too. In eight years, he went from an obscure, skinny project who just wanted to be an NBA player to the most physically imposing force the league has had since Shaquille O'Neal.

On Tuesday, he was, in a word, dominant. And he didn't need a bunch of step-back jumpers or a so-called "bag" to do it. This was, in a lot of ways, a throwback game.For decadesfrom Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to Shaqbigs dominated the NBA.

While the advent of the three-point revolution curbed their impact, Giannis just scored a win for the big man with one of the most overwhelming postseason runs we've ever seen. And capping it off with a 50-point performance seals this run's place in history.

Regardless of who was in front of him, Giannis was relentless. He went around Deandre Ayton and over or through Mikal Bridges and Jae Crowder. He was unstoppable around the rim, but he also hit four shots around the free-throw line. Perhaps most impressively, he went 17-of-19 from the charity stripe (tied for the fourth-most makes in a single Finals game), after entering Game 6 with a 55.6 free-throw percentage for the playoffs.

With a chance to win the Bucks' first title in 50 years, Giannis was as locked in as he's ever been. And winning a title this way, inthisera, makes it feel even more special.

LeBron James ushered in the player-empowerment era when he took his talents to South Beach in 2010. Since then, he's maneuvered around the league and manufactured title runs for three different organizations. When it looked like it wouldn't happen in Cleveland, he went to Miami. When the Heat started to age out of contention, he returned to Cleveland and brought Kevin Love with him. After that soured, he went to the Los Angeles Lakers and lured Anthony Davis there a year later.

Kevin Durant's move from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Golden State Warriors was similarly critiqued around sports websites and social media platforms.

Kawhi Leonard won what now feels like a hired-gun championship with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

For Giannis to win multiple MVPs with the smaller-market team that drafted him and not even entertain free agency before winning a title is unusual. But he's just not a usual superstar. Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer explained last offseason:

"Any figure around the Bucks, or who has spent time around Antetokounmpo, has always spoken of the superstar's unwavering loyalty. This is a person who once refused to attend theNBAdraft unless his brother could come along with him. By all accounts, he enjoys the decibel levels of Milwaukee's market. He does not yearn for the lights ofNew Yorkor Los Angeles.

"It's also said that Antetokounmpo values being not just the face but the bedrock of the franchise. That is not to characterize him as brimming with ego, rather pride in carrying himself like an organizational pillar. He relishes the responsibility of leading Milwaukee to a championship, like the stars he grew up watching before a wave of player empowerment swept the league."

He more or less confirmed that description on Tuesday.

"I couldnt leave," Giannis said of the supermax extension he signed prior to this season. "...I wanted to get the job done.

Over the course of his eight-year career, the 26-year-old Antetokounmpo deployed a focus born of adversity toward that job.

Giannis has checked a lot of boxes between "trying to figure out where we were going to get our next meal from" and one of the most historically dominant postseasons in NBA history.

On Tuesday, he got the job done in truly stunning fashion.

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Giannis' Game 6 the Ultimate Exclamation Point on an All-Time Great Finals - Bleacher Report