Giannis pounding the table on the fact that he could have joined a so called super team and easily won a championship but what would that have been worth? Instead he stayed loyal to the team that drafted him and won a chip the hard way. People with the right spirit get blessed by the basketball gods. He will be enshrined as a legend in basketball lore. Coattail riders will never get the same recognition no matter how many championships they weasel themselves into “next year”.
Exactly. Him and Chris will own their legacies. They could've had 2-3 titles in Houston but couldn't just do the extra 5% necessary. Durant went out in that series and they *still* couldn't get it done. Glad I dont have to worry about this anymore. Giannis did what he needed to do when the situation unfolded for him. Harden did not. He showed up out of shape, demanded a trade, got injured, and is still ringless.
harden could make a hundred deals with the devil and still not be able to perform like this in a closeout game.
lol they have been pushing giannis as the next lebron since he signed that nike shoe deal in 2018, the league does make exceptions. If giannis was with adidas not only would he not be a 2x mvp, the league wouldnt let him win, and flat out target him like they used to do dwight and yao
Milwaukee's ownership went into luxury tax to put the best team on the floor. They went out and got Jrue Holiday...What did the Rockets do? Luxury Tax Savings. That philosophy doesn't make sense with a team that close to winning a championship. You go all in when you're that close. Bucks ownership gave Giannis the extra help he needed to get over the hump. Rockets didn't give that to Harden...they chose LUXURY TAX SAVINGS.
you've been lied too sad to say their is a reason mainstream tv ratings are down across the board, from sports, to entertainment, to news. People dont trust whats on tv. And neither do i.
honestly, this is slap in the face for all these super team bullshet the media tries to push. I can't be more happy a team that drafted a superstar that stayed loyal to them winning a ring.
I wish people would just appreciate the greatness of both Giannis and Harden. My main takeaway from the Bucks win, other than being happy we all got a pretty great series, is further confirmation that ownership's willingness to spend is important, and that luck is important.
giannis choked in the playoffs for years, it helps having a loyal bucks fanbase who wont start trade middleton and trade giannis threads after every bad game. Loyal fans is what ever roster needs. I hope the rockets bounce with another franchise star and he gets treated better than harden did on these boards lol
I love Harden. My Rockets fandom started in 1991 and, to me, he belongs up there with Hakeem, Yao, Moses, etc. He's carried some questionable teams into the playoffs by himself. Things he's done on the offensive end has been historically ludicrous. That being said, even as a Harden fan, his inconsistent performances in the postseason were anxiety-inducing. There would be stretches where his step backs weren't falling but rather than adjust, get some easy buckets near the basket, he would continue to hoist them up. There would also be times when he would try to draw fouls at critical points in the game--actual foul baiting--and it wouldn't work. Harden's basketball IQ is elite but sometimes just giving your teammates consistency is what they need, even if it's just bullying your way into the lane for an easy bucket. Giannis, he of limited skills and all, offered that for his teammates. Even when they were down those two games in Phoenix Giannis still played consistently and gave everything he had (his 3rd quarter in Game 2 was the defining moment of this series for me) while his teammates were just not hitting. Giving your teammate that reliable offensive production as the best player not only boosts morale but also gives them time to sort out their own bugs. Middleton came up huge the last 4 games and Holiday locked down on defense. It's like "okay guys, I'm going to go out there and give us 30-40 points. I'll try to do more but you can always count on that. ". I've posted this before and I'll say it again: I hope one day someone does a case study on how hard work and determination impacts performance in professional sports and use Ben Simmons vs Giannis as an example.
