Giannis Antetokounmpo turned 29 years old on Wednesday and got to spend the day in Las Vegas. Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks are in the city ahead of the semifinals of the inaugural In-Season Tournament, where the team has a matchup on the horizon against the Indiana Pacers. The winner of that game will head to the final, where they’ll play either the Los Angeles Lakers or the New Orleans Pelicans.
Antetokounmpo is very excited to keep adding stacks of cash to his bank account as long as the Bucks keep moving on in the event, and as he joked while meeting with the media on Wednesday, the former league MVP is excited to accomplish something that some of the greatest to ever play the game have never done.
“It’s gonna be crazy, because whoever wins this whole thing is gonna have a one-up on Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe, Shaq,” Antetokounmpo said at the 1:41 mark of the above video. “So, I guess I’m better than them.”
Antetokounmpo made it a point to say that he was joking around here, and then stressed that the team has a difficult game on Thursday against the Pacers. But he did also make it a point to say that he thinks having a banner to celebrate winning the Tournament would be fun.
He certainly is right about the upcoming opponent being tricky, and he knows first-hand how difficult it can be to go up against Indiana — back in November, Antetokounmpo had 54 points and 12 rebounds against them, only for the Pacers to pick up a 126-124 win. Damian Lillard did not play in that one, though, so the Bucks will certainly hope to get a measure of revenge on Thursday.