Giannis Antetokounmpo cemented his status as one of the best players of his generation on Tuesday night, dropping 50 points in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
Countless current and former players went on social media to congratulate Antetokounmpo on this achievement. Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal was one of several stars who showed their support for the ‘Greek Freak.’
O’Neal, who was called ‘Superman’ throughout his NBA career, is officially passing his nickname to Antetokounmpo.
“Congratulations @giannis_an34 thanks for bringing olde school bully basketball back,” O’Neal wrote on Instagram. “It’s only one Superman now and that’s you. Dam you was dominating. Wow.”
Unlike other stars in the NBA, Antetokounmpo didn’t leave the team that drafted him just to join forces with other marquee players – albeit there’s nothing wrong with that route.
In his postgame press conference on Tuesday night, Antetokounmpo made sure to point out that his path to a title wasn’t an easy one.
“Coming back, I was like, ‘This is my city. They trust me. They believe in me. They believe in us.’ … Obviously I wanted to get the job done,” Antetokounmpo said after winning the title. “But that’s my stubborn side. It’s easy to go somewhere and go win a championship with somebody else. It’s easy. … I could go to a super team and just do my part and win a championship. But this is the hard way to do it and this is the way to do it, and we did it.”
Antetokounmpo will obviously need to be at his best next season if he wants to win capture back-to-back championships. But for now, he should sit back and celebrate his latest accomplishment.
The post Look: Shaquille O’Neal Has A Cool Message For Giannis appeared first on The Spun.