Chicago Bulls: Giannis in elite company with MJ after historic game
On the night of July 20, there was another NBA superstar that joined the likes of LeBron James and the Chicago Bulls‘ all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan in the Finals. Milwaukee Bucks back-to-back MVP and superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had a legendary performance in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to get his team a title over the two-seed Phoenix Suns.
In a Game 6 NBA Finals win for Giannis and the Bucks over the star guard duo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker and the Suns was one of the most memorable in the league’s history. Giannis joined the company of a single-digit number of other NBA legends that scored 50+ points in an NBA Finals game.
Chicago Bulls’ legend Michael Jordan saw Giannis Antetokounmpo match him in the NBA Finals in one respect
Giannis scored nearly half of the Bucks’ points in this win over the Suns. He registered a whopping 50 points on 16-of-25 shooting from the field, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc, and a very surprising 17-of-19 from the free-throw line. To add to that, Giannis put up a game-high 14 rebounds, two assists, no steals, and five blocks.
Ironically enough, the NBA Finals game where Jordan put up at least 50 points also came against the Suns. Jordan put up 55 points in a Game 4 win over Charles Barkley and the Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. Jordan and the Bulls would go on to win that Finals series over the Suns in six games before the first of his three retirements during his playing days in the NBA.
It was Giannis that helped to deliver the first NBA Championship to the Cream City since 1971. This was one of the best NBA Finals performances ever. It is really one that we’ve only seen out of the likes of LeBron, Kobe Bryant, and Jordan since the 1990s.
This is the first title of Giannis’ career. He adds that hardware to a list of accolades that also includes five All-NBA Teams, two NBA MVPs, five All-Star selections, one Defensive Player of the Year, and now also one NBA Finals MVP.
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Giannis and the Bucks took down the Suns in six games, also the same amount it took the Bulls to take down Phoenix to win the 1993 NBA Finals. There are some weird similarities between Giannis and the Bucks in 2021 and Jordan and the Bulls in 1993 in these respects.