Giannis Antetokounmpo deserves praise for his NBA Finals performance so far but no one is giving it

It's time for us to give Giannis his flowers

The Milwaukee Bucks are down 0-2 to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals, which is very obviously a place no one wants to be.

Only 4 teams in NBA history have come back from 0-2 deficits to actually win an NBA title. And if you fall down 0-3? Just forget about it. Start thinking about how to get better for next season.

It’s safe to say the Bucks aren’t in a spot they want to be in right now. But none of that is the fault of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been Milwaukee’s brightest star through the playoffs and in these Finals.

Antetokounmpo — on a bum leg — is averaging 31.0 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4 assists on 63% shooting through two games in the Finals. He put together a stellar 42 point performance in game 2 to keep Milwaukee in things throughout.

But if you listen to some of the commentary surrounding the game and the Bucks, you’d think Antetokounmpo had tanked the game away.

ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins blamed Giannis’ dominant performance for a lack of production.

.@KendrickPerkins isn't moving off his claim that Giannis is the "Robin" of the Bucks.

"His dominance in the 3rd quarter took away from others. … For the whole entire 3rd quarter we watched Jrue Holiday and we watched Khris Middleton stand around and watch Giannis go to work!" pic.twitter.com/NuHTmSbExQ

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 9, 2021

“His dominance in the 3rd quarter took away from others. And it fell right into the scheme of things for the Phoenix Suns. They said ‘OK, Giannis we see you in attack mode’…They said, you know what? We’re going to let you do you and we’re going to take away the others. And for the entire 3rd quarter we watched Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton stand around and watch Giannis go to work.” 

Yes, a 42 point game played right into the Suns’ hands, naturally. Never mind the fact that Holiday and Middleton were 5-20 at the half and 12-37 for the game. Without Giannis’ 3rd quarter, the Bucks aren’t even close to being in this game.

Anyway, that wasn’t all. You also had Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe questioning Antetokounmpo’s conditioning.

Giannis, needs to improve his conditioning. He only plays in 5-6 min stretches

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) July 9, 2021

It’s almost like being 6-11 and 242 pounds while moving like a guard can be pretty tiring. Especially when you’re playing 40 (!!!) minutes in a game after nearly having your knee ripped to shreds the week before.

There are plenty of ridiculous other takes about Antetokounmpo out there just like both of these. There are folks questioning whether he’s doing enough or whether he’s good enough to win a title despite his dominant performances.

Folks always talk about how he has “no bag” or how he can’t shoot free throws or how he can’t be “Batman.”

Meanwhile, completely brilliant performances like this one get lost in the shuffle. People always focus on what he can’t do instead of what he can. And that’s such a shame.

Because what he’s doing — what he’s done throughout his career — has been so special.

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