Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks had a rough 2022-23 season, as they dealt with key injuries and an unceremonious dumping in the first round of the playoffs.
Khris Middleton, arguably their second-best player, missed much of the year due to injury, and Antetokounmpo himself suffered a back injury in the first round of the playoffs, which led to Milwaukee falling in five games to the Miami Heat.
But Antetokounmpo is only two years removed from winning his first NBA championship, and he called it “the best feeling that I’ve felt so far in basketball,” per the New York Times via Ball Don’t Lie on Twitter.
Giannis Antetokounmpo on winning an NBA title in 2021:
“I think it’s the best feeling that I’ve felt so far in basketball.”
(via @nytimes) pic.twitter.com/bGJlF6YxSR
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) August 24, 2023
That year, they were also dealing with the aftereffects of a five-game upset at the hands of the Heat the previous season.
But they powered past their Eastern Conference playoff opponents to reach the NBA Finals, where they overcame a 2-0 series deficit to knock off Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns.
Right now, amidst Miami’s unexpected run to the championship series and the possibility that they end up trading for Damian Lillard, the Bucks seem to be flying under the radar.
But they still have most of the core that took them all the way in 2021 intact, and thus they should at least be considered co-favorites to come out of the East again.
Antetokounmpo averaged a career-high 31.1 points, along with 11.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists a game last season, and at age 28, he is indisputably at the peak of his powers.
It shouldn’t be a stretch to imagine him and his teammates holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy sometime next June.
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