Even after a hard-fought series that ended in defeat for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, he wasn’t bitter.
Instead, following the final buzzer of Game 7 on Sunday at TD Garden, Antetokounmpo and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum embraced on the court as the two superstars showed a great deal of respect of the battle they, and their two teams, waged against each other.
Antetokounmpo later revealed what he told Tatum during that moment as the Greek Freak believes the Celtics have the right ingredients to come away with an NBA title.
“I wished him best of luck, for him to continue playing great and lead this team to, hopefully, a championship,” Antetokounmpo told reporters following the Game 7 loss, per Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow. “I think they’re a great team, they have great chemistry, and they have an opportunity to win one.”
The respect between Antetokounmpo and the Celtics was certainly mutual. Jaylen Brown called what Antetokounmpo did in the series “incredible” after Antetokounmpo averaged 33.9 points, 14.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game.
While Tatum’s statistics weren’t as astronomical compared to Antetokounmpo, Tatum proved worthy of the superstar label as well, especially when he outdueled Antetokounmpo with a 46-point performance in a must-win situation for the Celtics in Game 6. For the series, Tatum turned in 27.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.
Tatum and the Celtics will look to make Antetokounmpo’s words prophetic starting in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. Game 1 is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday at FTX Arena.
