One Thousand and Thirty-One: The Birth of a Monster

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Link.

Aside from having the same manager, these are two completely unrelated players.

But in fact, Antetokounmpo has always admired Link, who is under the same manager as him.

For a long time, Link's story of growing from an unknown undrafted player to a league superstar has been the driving force for Antetokounmpo's continuous improvement.

Although the personal relationship between the two is not very good, they often communicate in private.

After the Grizzlies were eliminated by the Thunder in the Western Conference finals last season, Antetokounmpo even said, "No matter who wins the championship in the end, he is not the best player in the league, because the best player in the league wears a Grizzlies jersey." .”

Antetokounmpo's ability to say such words to support Link and the Grizzlies is enough to prove his respect and love for Link.

It's just that at that time, Antetokounmpo was still an inconspicuous little character, and he didn't care much about what he said.

This young man who can't shoot three-pointers, averages less than 20 points per game, and fails to lead his team into the playoffs has only some reputation among a small group of fans.

When it comes to the Bucks, the ones people talk about the most are Jabari Parker, the second overall pick in 2014, Greg Monroe, Middleton, who is becoming more and more superstar-like, head coach Jason Kidd, and even Larry Sanders, who claimed to give up basketball for art.

Giannis Antetokounmpo? Many people can't pronounce this name at all.

But this year, even though the season has just begun. But the name Giannis Antetokounmpo is reported more and more frequently and is becoming more and more well-known.

Because this year, this "Greek monster" has officially started wreaking havoc in the league!

On October 26, the Bucks faced the Hornets in their home opener.

Although the Bucks lost in the end, Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in the first game, and his shooting rate was as high as 61.9%. The Hornets were unable to fight back!

The drive of this young man is impressive.

And this game seemed to have unlocked the seal between the Bucks and the "Greek Monster", making them unstoppable in subsequent games.

Against the Nets on October 29, Antetokounmpo contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. And at the last moment, after teammates Jabari and Parker missed key shots, Giannis stretched out his long arms and easily picked off the offensive rebound among the Nets players and completed the tip-in!

In the third game against the Pistons, Antetokounmpo had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. He was still fearless in the face of Drummond's guarded basket and played quite comprehensively. In the end, he also led the Bucks to win the game.

On November 1, against the powerful Pacers in the Eastern Conference, Antetokounmpo scored 33 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals with a super high shooting rate of 61.1%, defeating the long-famous "Indiana City" General "Paul George" was completely suppressed!

In this game, the Bucks finally won 125-107!

If Antetokounmpo was just making a small fuss before, then against the Pacers and George, he really made a name for himself.

The Pacers are definitely considered a strong team in the minds of most fans. They are one of the few teams in the East that can compete with James.

Paul George is also considered one of the best small forwards in the league and is compared with Link and James.

But no one thought that the Milwaukee Bucks, who had no sense of existence before, would actually beat the Pacers into such a mess.

At this point, the Bucks have won three consecutive games after losing to the Hornets in the opening game. And in these three games, Antetokounmpo performed very well.

A record of 3 wins and 1 loss also puts the Milwaukee Bucks at the top of the Eastern Conference.

This young Greek man, who just renewed his contract with the Bucks for 4 years and 100 million this summer, told the world that the Bucks did not make a mistake.

Looking back now, the growth trajectory of this "Greek monster" is extremely clear.

In the 13-14 season, he was still an ignorant rookie who spoke extremely unfluent English. He was 28 days shy of turning 19, and that season he was the youngest player in the league. As a "sideline" of the team, he did not get many opportunities.

In the 14-15 season, his free throw shooting improved to a higher level, and his shooting percentage increased by 6 percentage points. He began to become a stable scoring point for the team, contributing 12.7 points per game. His height also grew from 2.08 meters to 2.11 meters. The team's winning rate exceeded 50%.

In the 15-16 season, he began to occasionally appear in the top ten shots. People discovered that this young man who was always running tirelessly could often put the ball in when surrounded by three people.

It wasn’t until this year that the “Greek Freak” officially became famous. He has become a player who can truly defeat opponents on his own, and he has become the well-deserved core of Milwaukee!

With a wingspan of 2.21 meters, the defense he created is almost impossible to break through.

His height has continued to grow since entering the league, and he has now reached almost 2.13 meters!

But with the height of a center, he also possesses the dribbling and speed of a defender, which makes him invincible in the third position and makes his counterattack unstoppable.

At the same time, he is also a monster with big hands that is 12 centimeters longer than the average hand length of an adult man, reaching 30.5 centimeters in length, which allows him to always complete all kinds of incredible attacks. You know, Leonard, who is famous for his big hands, is "only" 28.6 centimeters long!

Of course, his explosive athletic ability to instantly jump to block a shot or dunk and his giant frame covered with muscles are even more impressive.

This guy doesn't show much skill on the court. His shooting is not accurate, it's more like playing basketball based on intuition.

This monster body of his seems destined to be born for basketball.

People joke that you can’t learn anything from watching Antetokounmpo play because he relies purely on talent!

But even so, even in an NBA league full of talented players, he is unstoppable.

And the most exaggerated thing is that this guy is not yet 22 years old! His upper limit is simply immeasurable!

After four games, everyone agreed that Milwaukee was back in the mix and Antetokounmpo was a player worth watching!

Many media even put this headline on their front page - "Giannis Antetokounmpo, after James and Link, the next face of the league!"

Finally, after the "Greek Monster" wreaked havoc in four games, the Grizzlies and Bucks are about to meet in the game.

Everyone wants to know whether Link can block the impact of this "monster" after George.

Can Link, a player who once made the entire league feared, stop Antetokounmpo from continuing to destroy.

In front of Antetokounmpo, a forward with an extremely abnormal figure, will Link be forced to use his full strength?

One team just won four games in a row, and the other team won three games in a row.

A player who unleashes his talents every night and beats every opponent to pieces.

A player has nowhere to unleash his abilities because there is no opponent who can match him.

Now, they finally meet!

The news of Antetokounmpo vs. Link occupied the cover of all sports websites!

Not only fans and media are looking forward to this game, but the "Greek Freak" himself can't resist the urge to play.

During training the day before the game, Antetokounmpo said in an interview, "I am very much looking forward to playing against Link. He has always been my idol and I will do my best to beat him! Yes, I If I want to win, I think I should be able to win.”

This true monster is already eyeing another forward from Fresno University.