Everything in the intervening months and, joyously, the mere hours since we cemented glory has shown that his declaration that, “This is my home, this is my city” was almost unfathomably sincere. Last December, fresh off his supermax extension, I wrote about how he had inaugurated an era where we lived with the audacity of joy. On top of that, he is almost singular in the world of professional basketballers for his unwavering loyalty to the city of Milwaukee. When it comes to playing hard and for the love of the game, he has no equal. When all the chips were down and the highest stage called, Giannis miraculously walked out there and immediately launched himself into a stacked defense to try an alley-oop on the very first possession of the Finals. All this off an injury that would normally have broken a lesser player physically or caused him to play conservatively to save his body. Last night, he took not a single play off, running the length of the court at a full-out sprint every possession to make sure Phoenix got not a single uncontested look while simultaneously reaching a transcendent level in which no defense can hope to contain him for more than a single possession. He has worked his ass off for years to push himself from an unknown to one of the greatest players this sport has seen. They are as pure a champion as we’ll ever hope to have in our lifetimes.Įverything begins and ends with Giannis Antetokounmpo, the undisputed king of our little kingdom.

They embody everything we cherish in sports. Which is what makes the Milwaukee Bucks, your 2021 NBA Champions, all the more special. Competition was supposed to beget respect, and instead it normally only delivers heaps of bitterness and mean-spiritedness. All of those things we naively put our hearts into as kids have been twisted beyond the point of being grotesque. It is hard to take a look at the professional sports landscape and not come out the other side jaded, cynical, worn-out at constantly giving and getting nothing in return. They dare you to abandon the principles of sport as we are taught them as bright-eyed kids who still believe in a just world where playing hard, playing for your teammates, and playing for love of the game is reason enough to be proud. Professional sports are cruelty of another degree.

By their nature, they test your willingness to invest your heart and soul into a venture that promises you nothing. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers įor he today that sheds his blood with me

We happy few has it cracked