Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo named NBA MVP
Milwaukee Bucks star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the 2018-19 regular season yesterday morning (Singapore time).
The 24-year-old from Greece wept as he accepted the honour at the glitzy NBA Awards show broadcast from Santa Monica, California, becoming the youngest MVP since Derrick Rose was the youngest-ever winner in 2011.
Antetokounmpo edged out 2018 MVP James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Paul George for the title.
Antetokounmpo, in his sixth season with the Bucks, averaged 27.7 points and 12.5 rebounds, as he led Milwaukee to the best regular-season record in the league with 60 wins and 22 defeats. They reached the Eastern Conference finals where they fell to the Toronto Raptors, who would go on to lift the title.
"I want to thank my team, my teammates," Antetokounmpo said.
"It takes more than one person to win 60 games. Every time I walked to the locker room, my teammates were ready to fight... to go to war with me."
Antetokounmpo struggled to get the words out as he also gave thanks to his late father, Charles, who died in 2017.
"Every day I step on the floor, I always think of my dad," he said. - AFP
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