During the offseason, Kobe Bryant dared Giannis Antetokounmpo to win this season's Most Valuable Player award. And after three games, it appears that the Milwaukee Bucks superstar is taking the Los Angeles Lakers legend's challenge to heart.

However, that's not the only headline-grabber involving Antetokounmpo's name as his father passed away late September in Milwaukee. The sudden loss of a dear family member proved to be enough motivation for the Greek Freak to play inspired basketball.

In the Bucks' 113-110 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied a career-best 44 points but nothing was bigger than his game-sealing block over Jusuf Nurkic.

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/921934804035268608

In fact, and what's even more amazing, the block was only the second part of his two-way clutch sequence. In the previous play, Antetokounmpo stole the ball from Portland and went all the way for a huge slam to give Milwaukee a one-point advantage.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=47&v=2emGxd6ivCY

After the game, the night's hero spoke to reporters and said that he is dedicating his huge game to his late father.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's numbers so far have been MVP-like — 38.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, five assists, and 2.7 steals per game. However, he is playing 38.3 minutes per contest which isn't ideal if the Bucks want to go deep in the playoffs this season. Nonetheless, he is still primed for a career year after an already-historic performance in 2016-17.