After watching Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo go off against the Washington Wizards on Monday night, one might say that he’s making basketball look easy right now.
After all, the former back-to-back MVP dropped 42 points all over the Wizards on a near-perfect 20-of-23 from the field as he led the Bucks to a 142-129 win over Washington.
Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo Admits ‘It’s Not Easy’
After the game, however, Giannis admitted to the media that what he does on the basketball court is anything but a walk in the park. While it might look that way sometimes, the fact of the matter is that Antetokounmpo has to work for every single point he scores:
“It’s not easy,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I wish it was easy. You know, I wish it was easy. I wish I could come in and score 42 every game, you know? But no, it’s not. It’s hard. You’ve got to work extremely hard to get comfortable, to get in your rhythm, to get to your spot, to play make for yourself, to play make for your teammates. It’s hard, but I think I have worked extremely hard to kind of take care of my body, being healthy and being able to play every single night 30-plus minutes.”
As Giannis said, it’s more than just the work he has to put in during games. In fact, equally important is the blood, sweat, and tears he pours in behind the scenes. After all, you don’t get to this level without an unbridled level of dedication.
“Also, I’ve worked on my strength to be able to be on balance to get to my spot, even though guys are pushing me off,” he continued. “I study film and try to figure out angles, timing that I can drive the ball and be effective in the paint. But it’s not easy. It’s a lot of hours and a lot of sweat that I’ve put into this to be able to have this outcome. So, yeah, I appreciate it. That’s a compliment that (someone) thinks that it’s easy, but no, man, it’s not easy.”
Sorry, Giannis, but the truth is that if you keep on playing like this, then more than a few folks out there will have no choice but to believe that basketball is just so simple for you.
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