How Giannis Antetokounmpo Played the Perfect Mind Games In Quarantine

The pandemic put a huge dent on the completion of the 2019-20 NBA season. By now, the season would have been long done if it was not for the severity of the coronavirus. However, the league has organized a massive return through the Orlando bubble, and we can’t wait for it to restart. Aren’t we all excited to see Giannis Antetokounmpo postering his opponents? 

The Bucks are the top seed in the east and honestly, a major share of the credit goes to Giannis. ‘The Greek Freak’ has been spectacular this season, cementing his name as the top contender for the MVP award. 

However, during the quarantine, there was no prominent update from Giannis about his workout routine and clips showcasing his training. The Bucks star kept it private and some thought that Giannis did not indulge in workouts during the lockdown period. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo always wants to stay ahead of his opponents

When Giannis landed in the NBA, he envisioned a dream. Becoming the best player in the league and winning a championship is all Giannis had in mind when he set foot in the league in 2013. He has established himself as one of the best in the business, but to increase his dominance, Giannis really needs an NBA title to his name. 

When all the players were locked down in their homes, they could do nothing but stay there and workout. Letting their body go out of shape was never an option. Thus, Giannis thinks it is crazy that people thought he did not have access to workout facilities during the quarantine. 

Did Giannis really wanted people to believe that he is not training intensely ahead of the season’s restart? Amid the pandemic, the 25-year old made some commending contributions to the workers affected by the hiatus. Besides helping out his people back in Greece, Giannis took care of his the Bucks’ arena staff by making a sizeable donation.

However, there was so no such posts where we could see him working out or shooting hoops of any sort. Thus, many felt that Giannis hasn’t been on top of his fitness level during quarantine, due to the absence of such posts from his social media handles. Stars like LeBron James and Russell Westbrook displayed their intense workouts on their Instagram accounts. Hence, one could expect the same from Giannis, but the ‘Greek Freak,’ silently stayed ahead of his rivals.

In a recent press conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed the matter and ridiculed the speculations. “Anybody who thought I didn’t have access to a gym, they don’t even know me. I just said that trying to get a little bit ahead of the competition,” Giannis revealed, with a cheeky smile on his face. 

The reigning MVP is not a stranger to situations like these. Back in 2018, Giannis outrightly refused to train with stars like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, citing reasons that would surely sit well with Bucks fans, but probably not others.