The Milwaukee Bucks are still reveling in their championship victory, as they should, having shrugged off past failures to push through to their first NBA title in 50 years. It was a remarkable run, headlined by Giannis Antetokounmpo shredding defenses and the narrative about where the ceiling is for him as a face of a franchise all at once.
Game 6 of the Finals was Antetokounmpo’s masterpiece, as he scored 50 points to close out the Suns and hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. One of the things that defined this Bucks playoff run was the sense of calm and joy they seemed to show throughout, led by Giannis but with steady hands and joyful faces throughout the roster. Their new additions brought just enough freshness to the roster to make it feel like this year would be different, with Jrue Holiday inspiring more confidence in their backcourt and Bobby Portis bringing a needed energy to their bench unit.
No one, however, seemed to build the connection with their superstar better than midseason addition PJ Tucker, who became quick friends with Giannis in the locker room, with the two regularly bantering with each other. Giannis would regularly find a camera to talk about PJ wearing “diamond shoes,” jabbing at his teammate’s absurd sneaker collection, and so for Game 6 Tucker decided to make Giannis’ joke reality by rocking custom, $250,000 diamond sneakers. When he got to the Bucks locker room prior to the game, Tucker’s first move was to show off a pair of new Freak 3s that Giannis said he’d never even seen, before blowing his mind with the diamond shoes.
P.J. Tucker pulled up to Game 6 with unreleased Freak 3’s and $250k of diamonds in his shoes and Giannis was
pic.twitter.com/Cax3l3X6xw
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) July 27, 2021
Giannis’ reaction is so good to both, first asking PJ how he got a pair of his own signature sneakers before he did. While still reeling from Tucker’s Nike connections, PJ handed him the diamond shoes made by The Shoe Surgeon, which left Giannis speechless. Tucker saying “this is your fault” is tremendous, as he went out and real diamond shoes just to show Giannis up as an all-time flex.