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Giannis Antetokounmpo Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: F-G
Born: 12/06/94
Height: 6-10 / 2.08
Weight:205 lbs. / 93 kg.
Salary: $25,842,697
Born: 12/06/94
Height: 6-10 / 2.08
Weight:205 lbs. / 93 kg.
Salary: $25,842,697
James Harden performed remarkably well last season after a slow start, scoring 36.1 points per game. That’s the highest-scoring season in a long time, but it wasn’t enough to win MVP. Instead, that title went to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had an equally monstrous season. During a recent interview on 97.9 The Box, Harden shared his thoughts on why he lost out to Giannis. When it was suggested that “politics” played a part, Harden agreed.
“I think once the media, they create a narrative about somebody from the beginning of the year, I think they just take that narrative and run with it the entire year,” Harden explains at the six-minute mark of the interview. “I don’t want to get into details. But all I can do is control what I can do, and I went out there and did what I was supposed to do at a high level. You know what I’m saying?”
And yet, with an MVP trophy and a signature sneaker, Antetokounmpo won’t stop working. “I’m really, really happy about everything, but at the end of the day I can’t stay in the moment that much because I try to stay as humble as I can and hungry, and usually when you stick around the moment, that makes you feel comfortable and I don’t want to be comfortable,” he says. “Feeling uncomfortable is a good thing. When you’re out of your comfort zone, then you get better. You improve, you learn.
Their father, Charles, passed away unexpectedly in 2017 at his home in Milwaukee. He suffered a heart attack, out of the blue, at the age of 54. Now the family carries his name with them at every turn. “Every day that I step on the floor, I think about my dad,” Giannis said through tears during his MVP speech. “That motivates me and it pushes me to play harder and move forward.”
In addition to the roses on the outsole and the names of his parents on the medial midsole, the names of his brothers are written on the heel. The “34” on the heel’s collar can be read as his jersey number or as the Greek flag. And there are more colorways planned, like the “Coming to America” and “Greece” flavors that will continue to share his story, because he now understands how powerful his sneakers can be. “It’s amazing,” he says about the devotion people have to sneakers. “Before I joined Nike, I didn’t realize how big the sneaker world was and the influence that athletes and sneakers have on the next generation. And that’s where it goes back to the storytelling. I wanted a lot of kids, when they get my shoe, to be motivated. I want my shoe to be about hard work and about hope, about having faith.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the charge for Greece with 20 points, his brother Thanasis added 17 with five threes, however, shooting 34% in threes proved to be the Achilles heel of the hosts.
