After finishing his postgame news conference, his NBA Cup MVP award to his left and a smile across his face, Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to soak in the moment.
“Oh man, what a feeling,” he said. “What a great feeling. I’ll see you guys again, I promise.”
As he walked down the hallway toward the locker room, he continued. “What a great feeling. What a great feeling.”
The Milwaukee Bucks had just won the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena with a dominant 97-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Antetokounmpo was selected MVP, adding to an already lengthy résumé of accolades, including Finals MVP, two-time league MVP and NBA champion.
They skipped the traditional postgame locker room celebration for a more subdued scene, with players bopping along to music and sipping drinks at their locker.
“Last time I drank a little bit of champagne, when we won the championship [in 2021], I had like a full body cramp,” Antetokounmpo, who finished with a 26-point, 19-rebound, 10-assist triple double, said with a laugh.
Two members of the Bucks organization, assistant coach Darvin Ham and forward Taurean Prince, were members of the Los Angeles Lakers last season when they won the inaugural NBA Cup.
The Lakers celebrated with a champagne shower after their victory but struggled after the tournament, dropping 10 of their next 13 games.
“It’s tough,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “You come out of this and you’re back to the grind.”
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