Value of Myself

Written By: Vinny B

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is the perfect illustration of the type of persistence it takes to truly believe in oneself. He became a champion in the 2021 NBA Finals because he never wavered in his self-belief.

People will point to what he had to overcome in his childhood in Greece, growing up poor in Athens with parents who were illegal immigrants from Nigeria.They will mention how he was so hungry at his basketball practices in his teens that he would sometimes faint.

 Others will mention the multiple 40 point games, the game saving blocked shots or the legendary 50 point championship clinching game.Some will even mention that he got lucky due to major injuries from top players on the Lakers, Nets and Clippers.

The one thing that tops all the great story lines is his will to never doubt himself. Over the last few years we’ve seen Giannis have extraordinary regular success adding to his trophy case with two MVP’s, All-Star MVP and Defensive player of the year award but when it came to playoff success he fell short.

What he’s done in the last 8 weeks is the type of stories people will tell their grandchildren in the next 20-30 years.

The Buck went down 2-0 to the Nets and Kevin Durant and Giannis was criticized for not guarding Durant as he primary defender. People even began to question whether he should have ever have won the defensive player of the year award. Instead of allowing his critics to force him into guarding Durant, Giannis insisted that he would continue to do what his coach asked him to do. It was a big reason why the Bucks for able to outlast the Nets as Giannis was able to stay fresh and instead exhausting himself guarding Durant as the primary defender. Instead we saw Durant air ball a potential series winning shot because he had nothing left in the tank.

Most players would have let their ego get the best of them but Giannis didn’t have to prove anything because his belief in himself never wavered. When people wanted him to prove himself against Durant he didn’t need to because he didn’t need any ones validation.

He shot the most Air balls I ever seen a superstar player shoot during a single postseason.  Usually when players air ball as many free throws and three pointers their confidence is destroyed and they won’t recover until next season. All NBA fans watched how missing free throws shattered the confidence of 76ers All Star Ben Simmons. When Giannis air balled free throw it didn’t bother him whatsoever. He continued to play as if he was shooting 90 percent from the line.

Many times throughout the playoffs current and former players took social media jabs over and over.

After a bad playoff game some questioned whether he was just a regular season player.

Kendrick Perkins even called him Robin to teammate Khris Middleton’s Batman despite three NBA Finals games of 40 or more.

CJ McCollum even questioned whether Middleton would get votes for Finals MVP, despite Giannis having one of the greatest NBA Finals performances ever.

During all the nonsense uttered about him by current and former players Giannis never once found the need to defend against himself because he didn’t care.

This entire year Giannis was ridiculed for signing extension for five more years. Many said that he would never win a championship in Milwaukee.

He had one of the best quotes that you ever hear from any athlete that summed up how kept his emotional strength despite shortcomings and criticisms.

“When you focus on the past, that’s your ego. When I focus on the future, that’s my pride. I try to focus on the moment, in the present. That’s humility, that’s being humble.”

That quote showed kids around the world that the recipe for self-belief doesn’t need ego and pride. Believing in yourself has a single ingredient of humility.

When Lebron James left Cleveland for Miami and Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City for Golden State.

Giannis stayed in Milwaukee with no other super star and became a champion.

He believed in Milwaukee, his teammates, his coach and his organization.

And most of all he believed in himself.