It’s rare for two-time NBA MVPs to fly under the radar, but that’s been the case for Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. It’s through no fault of his own — his numbers are all more or less where they usually fall. It’s just hard to stand out in a league in which Nikola Jokić is posting 60-point triple-doubles, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s Thunder might win 70 games, and Luka Dončić has been inexplicably traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Antetokounmpo is as good as ever, and he’s taken for granted because of it.
That made his monster performance against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday all the more special. In a season whose headlines have been dominated by his peers, Antetokounmpo took center stage with a historic performance of his own. When the dust settled on Milwaukee’s 126-113 victory, the Bucks star had accumulated 35 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds. He is the first player in NBA history to ever hit all three benchmarks in a single outing.
The Bucks are in the middle of a brutal three-way battle for seeding in the Eastern Conference. With their win Thursday, they tied the Detroit Pistons for the No. 5 seed, but the Indiana Pacers have started to pull away at No. 4 as they hold a three-game lead. With Damian Lillard out with a blood clot, the job of keeping Milwaukee from falling to No. 6 has landed almost entirely on Antetokounmpo. On Thursday, he more than held up his end of the bargain.
Despite his consistent excellence, Antetokounmpo has fallen almost completely out of the MVP race. Jokić is widely considered the NBA’s best player. Gilgeous-Alexander is the leader of its best new contender. Dončić is arguably its top storyline as he adjusts to his new team. Jayson Tatum leads the reigning NBA champions in Boston. With all of that standing in his way, there just hasn’t been much room to celebrate his brilliance this season. On Thursday, however, he forced the basketball-viewing public to acknowledge his greatness.
