After winning the NBA Finals, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrated by pulling up to a Chick-Fil-A and ordering a 50-piece.
As previously reported by theGrio, Antetokounmpo ended one of the greatest NBA Finals runs ever with 50 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocked shots as the Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 105-98 on Tuesday night to win their second NBA championship, the team’s first in 50 years.
The ‘Greek Freak’ also made history when he accepted the NBA Finals MVP trophy. Per ESPN’s Stats and Information, Antetokounmpo is one of nine players to earn multiple league MVPs and a Finals MVP, and one of three to do it by age 26, along with Tim Duncan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar was a member of the Bucks championship team in 1971.
“Eight years ago, eight and a half years ago, when I came to the league, I didn’t know where my next meal will come from,” he told the media in his post-Finals press conference. “My mom was selling stuff in the street. Now I’m here sitting at the top of the top. I’m extremely blessed. I’m extremely blessed. If I never have a chance to sit on this table ever again, I’m fine with it. I’m fine with it. I hope this can give everybody around the world hope. I want them to believe in their dreams.”
The Bucks claimed this NBA championship by knocking off the surging Hawks and their rising superstar Trey Young, as well as the Suns and their nascent star, Devin Booker.
“They have seen the work we put in to get to this point, trying to sell tickets to people to come to the game to now having it packed out and having I think 65,000 people outside the arena tonight,” said forward Khris Middleton. “It’s an amazing transformation.”
Antetokounmpo went live on Instagram Wednesday morning to document his fast-food run to Chick-Fil-A with the Larry O’Brien trophy and his Finals MVP trophy in his lap.
He, along with girlfriend Mariah Riddlesprigger, who is pregnant with the couple’s second child, pulled up to the drive-thru making sure the female employee approved of him filming her before he ordered.
“There’s 150 thousand people watching you right now,” Antetokounmpo said to the fast-food worker, before asking for “50 [nuggets] exactly.”
When Antetokounmpo exited the Chick-Fil-A parking lot, he was met by a crowd of Bucks fans.
“Can I touch the trophy?” one excited fan asked, and Antetokounmpo replied, “Yes. Touch it… fast, fast, hurry!”
In the clip, fans surround and chase his car and the two-time MVP joins in on their “Bucks in 6” chants.
“This is why I love Milwaukee,” he said during the Live. “This is why I chose to stay because we celebrate together. It’s been like this since Day One. And I love this.”
Antetokounmpo scored 10 points in the first quarter of Game 6 in the NBA finals, while the entire Suns starting lineup finished with 11.
He finished with 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and five assists per game while shooting 61.8%, the first player in NBA Finals history to reach those numbers.
He shot 16 for 25 from the field and made an unbelievable 17 of 19 free throws — a spectacular showing for any shooter, let alone one who was hitting just 55.6% in the postseason and was ridiculed for it at times.
“People told me I can’t make free throws and I made them tonight. And I’m a freaking champion,” Antetokounmpo said.
“Fifty points in a close-out game in an NBA Finals. Pretty much sums it all up,” said center Brook Lopez. “It’s so indicative of who Giannis is as a player, as a person. He has that mindset always to just take care of business and he’s been our leader throughout my time.
“To have him as a focal point of everything we do and the way he goes about it, it’s just contagious with the whole team, and he’s so impressive night-in and night-out.
“This is stuff you don’t want to take for granted. But that’s Giannis. That’s what he does, and it’s just, I mean, completely awe-inspiring. His performance tonight, this whole series, this whole year, there’s no words for that. You’ve just got to look at the numbers.”
Watch the full Instagram Live below:
This story contains additional reporting from The Associated Press.
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