Former NBA great Jason Kidd, who played for such teams as the Phoenix Suns, New Jersey Nets, and Dallas Mavericks, is now the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. The great point guard took up coaching right after his playing days and has guided a young Bucks team with tons of talent. Luckily for Kidd he has 22-year-old budding superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been labeled the “Greek Freak” due to his country of origin and his freaky athleticism and measurables, to build his team around.
It’s always hard for foreign-born players to adjust to the NBA and life in America, but Jason Kidd definitely didn’t think he needed to school the youngster on his own playing accolades. In an interview with Sports Illustrated , Giannis was apparently unaware of who his coach really was:
From SI:
The first time Kidd benched him, Antetokounmpo was irate. “I was like, ‘Let’s see what this guy did in his career, anyway,’ ” Antetokounmpo recounts, and called up Kidd’s bio on his phone. “I saw Rookie of the Year, NBA championship, USA Olympic gold medal, second in assists, fifth in made threes, blah, blah, blah. I was like, ‘Jesus freaking Christ, how can I compete with that? I better zip it.’ ”
Giannis learned his lesson about Kidd fast–as he’s done with most things in his early NBA career. He’s already averaging 23.9 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game, and 5.9 assists per game this season and is quickly becoming one of the new faces in the league. But he’ll make sure to always listen to coach Kidd, who once was the face of the league and has a championship ring on his resume.
Oh, and the young “Greek Freak” added a game winner in New York last night to his resume and was swarmed with Greek fans outside his team bus as he left Madison Square Garden.
Not bad, Giannis. Not bad.
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