DETROIT — The Milwaukee Bucks have risen from the dead, and the man who’s rolled away the stone has put them on his back, like he should.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like an MVP, an award he won twice in his mid-20s. He and Damian Lillard are forming a chemistry that looks formidable, with Khris Middleton expected to make his season debut on Friday after double ankle surgery this offseason.
And Antetokounmpo, who turns 30 today, admits he wants a third Most Valuable Player award.
“Yeah, that definitely might put tears in my eyes,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports earlier this week. “I do want to be part of that conversation. It lets me know I was able to help my team, carry my team, solidified (us as a team).
“I’m not gonna lie, it definitely means something to me.”
The last few years Antetokounmpo has claimed winning the award didn’t mean much to him, but his tune has changed. Maybe it’s turning 30 and knowing he’s at a peak point. Perhaps it’s seeing Nikola Jokić win his third last year and looking very much like someone who can win a fourth this year.
Winning a third would push Antetokounmpo past Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash and into the same stratosphere with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, and the aforementioned Jokić. To boot, the last MVP to win the award age 30 and over was Nash during his age-30 and 31 seasons with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and ’06.
With the exception of Derrick Rose on the young end (22 years old in 2011) and Michael Jordan on the older end (35 in 1998), most MVPs are won by players between the ages of 25 and 28. Antetokounmpo won his two at 24 and 25.
“At this point in my career, I had the conversation with my brother, I was like, man, it’s crazy to me. I had just come to a realization that I might never win another MVP,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports. “I’m having better years than the years I won it. But hey, the league is improving, guys are playing very, very well.”
But Antetokounmpo’s consistency can be overlooked at times, despite finishing in the top four in MVP voting the last six years, and he’s taking his game up a notch this season.
It’s not just that he’s leading the league in scoring at nearly 33 points a night on a career high 62 percent shooting from the field. His assists are at a career high (6.6), he’s still rebounding at a high clip (11.6), and Doc Rivers is finding ways to unleash him as a defensive menace again.
But it’s also Antetokounmpo being a more efficient player this year, embracing the midrange jump shot as opposed to barreling into defenses that put up a wall waiting for him. On one hand, it saves his body from the unforgiving hardwood floor that he often tumbles on. On the other, it makes him nearly impossible to defend if he’s hitting shots in that 14-to-17 foot range — and he doesn’t feel compelled to take 3s, which lets defenses off the hook. His 3-point rate is the lowest since his second year.
“I feel basketball-wise I can I read plays better now,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports. “I know my spots way better at times. I’m not being as rushed. I’m being more poised. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m playing better, but we’ll see by the end of the year.”
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It’s a scary thought for him to embrace that part of his game and even scarier for him to note his already diverse skills are maturing more. Antetokounmpo already owns the spot for the greatest player development story in NBA history, and now, he’s knocking down midrange jumpers at a high rate.
Against Detroit in the game that put the Bucks in the knockout round of the NBA Cup, Antetokounmpo didn’t miss on his first nine attempts and only had one dunk.
“I’m literally changing my game, and it gives me so much dopamine rush in my head, because I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “Now there’s going to be games that I’m going to make (none). Last game, I didn’t make s***. But this game, I made them. Hopefully next game, I can make some more.”
“If I had a chance to win MVP, for sure, it would put some tears in my eyes. I’m not saying it as clickbait.”Giannis Antetokounmpo
The next game is the Boston Celtics, a true test of whether the Bucks have turned it around from that 2-8 start to getting back into the pack of the Eastern Conference. A win could represent yet another step back toward being feared in the conference, as Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and New York represent the top crop.
But only Boston has true playoff success. The Bucks, since winning a championship in 2021, have won just one playoff series — in large part because Antetokounmpo’s health has been an issue.
He missed last year’s first-round series against the Indiana Pacers (calf strain) and played only three games in their shocking first-round loss to the Miami Heat in 2023, after injuring his back.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Antetokounmpo told Yahoo Sports. “There’s two things. I wanna play in the playoffs. … You know, I haven’t had that feeling. That feeling last year was stripped away from me.”
“And two, if I had a chance to win MVP, for sure, it would put some tears in my eyes. I’m not saying it as clickbait.”
He recalls Michael Jordan saying his first title wasn’t the hardest, but the last title, in 1998, being the toughest.
“I’m dominating here,” Antetokounmpo said, pointing to a spot in the locker room, as if it were an imaginary floor. “I don’t remember the last time I dunked on somebody. So I’m trying to pick my spots and then dominate the game mentally. And if I’m able to (win again), it would definitely put some tears. My kids will be able to see me win, too.”
And more than anything, he wants them to see him play in May and June, too.
