Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is something of a modern-day Shaquille O'Neal given his ability to bully the hell out of opponents with ferocious forays to the bucket. So, naturally, Shaq had to give Giannis his flowers for doing just that en route to his first NBA title.
Shaq took to Instagram after the Bucks won the championship on Tuesday night to deliver his message. Avert your eyes, Dwight Howard:
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Superman, indeed.
The Bucks superstar was super in just about every way to close out the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. Giannis put up a ridiculous 50 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks and two assists. He shot 16-of-25 from the field, doing plenty of bullying inside while even knocking down a few mid-range jumpers and hitting a 3-pointer. He was a force on both sides of the ball, and the Suns didn't have any kryptonite to slow him down.
Antetokounmpo finished the NBA Finals with averages of 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 61.8% from the field. The Bucks star punished the Suns inside over and over again. Deandre Ayton is a large human being, but he had absolutely no answers for Giannis. The Greek Freak was just plowing right through him to get buckets or get fouled.
It was a performance worthy of that Superman moniker. It's easily one of the best NBA Finals performances of all time. We saw Shaq dominate like this during his heyday as well, and it clearly made him proud to see another player following in his footsteps by bringing that old-school basketball back to the forefront. In an NBA dominated by 3-point shooting these days. Giannis Antetokounmpo won Finals MVP by absolutely destroying it in the paint.
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