Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic year has earned him a historic awards sweep, with the Milwaukee Bucks forward picking up the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award to add to his Defensive Player of the Year prize.
It is the second season in succession in which Antetokounmpo has been named as the league’s MVP.
The 25-year-old also becomes just the third player in league history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, joining Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Antetokounmpo said: “Michael Jordan is one of the best players who’s ever done it, if not the best. Hakeem, a guy that I look up to, he came from where I’m from, Nigeria, where I have roots. Just being in the same sentence with them, that means a lot to me.”
Antetokounmpo, who was in his native Athens with his family when the award was announced, received 85 votes from the 100-person panel of global sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league, plus the one additional vote granted by winning fan balloting.
Michael Jordan was one of only two players to have won the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year double before now
“It feels good to get this award announced when I’m back home,” Antetokounmpo said, after telling NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who was in possession of the trophy, to hang on to the hardware until he returns to the US.
He added: “It’s been a long journey. The people that know me, the people that know my story, you can never take these moments for granted.
“I’m happy for this award but I want more. I’ve got to keep getting better. I want to be a champion.”
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers got the other 15 first-place votes and finished second, and James Harden of the Houston Rockets finished third.
LeBron James finished second to Antetokounmpo in the voting
James has been first, second or third in the MVP voting 11 times in his career, and Harden has been a top-three finisher in each of the last four seasons.
Antetokounmpo’s numbers this season were unprecedented, with averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.
Nobody had ever averaged those numbers over a full season; Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor both had seasons where they topped Antetokounmpo’s averages for points and rebounds, though both fell just shy of matching his assist average.
The numbers were not inflated by big minutes, with Antetokounmpo fifth in the NBA in scoring, second in the league in rebounding but only 71st in minutes per game.
He led the Bucks to the NBA’s best record this season, before Milwaukee were ousted from the playoffs by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said earlier this summer: “Giannis, in our minds, has done more than enough to deserve back-to-back MVPs.
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer believes Antetokounmpo is a deserving winner of the award
“What he does for us on both ends of the floor, what he does every night, the way he sets the bar for us, culture-wise, work ethic-wise… he’s an incredible teammate, plays unselfishly, does everything. I think that’s kind of what the MVP is, so we certainly feel like he’s very deserving.”
Jordan won both the MVP and Defensive Player awards in 1987 and 1988 and Olajuwon won both in 1993 and 1994. Antetokounmpo came close to joining the club last season by winning MVP and finishing second in the Defensive Player balloting.
Antetokounmpo also becomes the 14th player with multiple MVP awards and the second international player in that club, joining Canada’s Steve Nash.