Giannis: No Asterisk by this Year’s Champion & He’s Ready to Play

Despite the unusual circumstances, Giannis says there will be no asterisk by this year’s champion, and as you’d expect, he’s ready to play.

It’s been an odd year, to say the least, both in the sports world and in our day-to-day lives as well. But the NBA will push through and try to complete the 2019-2020 season by crowning an NBA Champion.

And, of course, there are going to be some unique circumstances when play does resume at the end of the month.

For one, there are only going to be 22 of the 30 NBA teams resuming play, and all games will be played in the “bubble” down in Orlando, Florida. Also, with only eight more regular-season games, it’s not going to be a full 82 game NBA season, and some players have already opted out.

These are just a few of the changes or events that have already happened, so naturally, some may be questioning the validity of the eventual champion given what has and will be taking place is just so different from past seasons.

But that group does not include Milwaukee Bucks’ star, Giannis Antetokounmpo. If anything, winning the championship this season is going to be even more challenging in his eyes (via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel):

"“I’ve heard a lot of people say there’s going to be a – like, how do you say – a star next to this championship,” Antetokounmpo said Wednesday during a post-workout conference call. “At the end of the day, this is going to be the toughest championship you could ever win because, like, the circumstances are really, really tough right now. Whoever wants it more is going to be able to go out there and take it.”"

At 53-12, the Milwaukee Bucks once again hold the NBA’s best regular-season record and have a convincing 6.5 game lead for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference. But as Giannis points out, winning isn’t going to be easy. In fact, this is going to be the toughest championship to win.

With over three months off, players have essentially gone through an entire offseason, and trying to regain their form and chemistry in the midst of playoff basketball will be difficult. Not to mention staying healthy.

Now, the Bucks are as well equipped as any team to handle these unique circumstances and will resume play as one of the favorites, but these unknowns add a new element to the mix that wasn’t in play before. And they certainly could affect the outcome of playoff games.

Yet as you’d expect, Giannis is up for the challenge that lies before him and this Milwaukee Bucks team (via Eric Nehm at The Athletic – subscription required):

"“You’re in a tough position because obviously we worked — I worked, personally, seven years with the team; I’ve worked all season long for being in a position to go out there and win a championship,” Antetokounmpo said. “That being taken away from you, that’s kind of hard. So, in my head, I was like, ‘OK, I know the NBA is going to make the right decision and the safest decision for us. But at the end of the day, I’ve go to ready.’ I know what the goal is — the goal is to win a championship. The goal is to get better. So mentally, I was trying to stay ready.”"

Ultimately we don’t exactly know what to expect when play resumes, but we do know that Giannis is fully healthy, ready to play, and that this championship means just as much to him as any other one would. And those factors coupled with Coach Budenholzer along with the rest of this Bucks roster are certainly enough to bring the Larry O’Brien Trophy back to Milwaukee.

But as Giannis told us, just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.