Who loves athletes engaging in a war of words, especially when it’s between two former MVPs? That’s right. All of us.
Well, we’ve got a hot feud brewing, folks. Brace yourselves. 2018 MVP James Harden and 2019 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo are beefing!
It all started in last year’s tight MVP race, as the two were neck and neck all season thanks to the insane stats that they were dropping. Let’s put up the timeline:
JANUARY 2019 – Giannis accidentally threw the ball right into James’s face – that or he simply knows that James likes to have the ball, so he just helped him out (I’m kidding, but you decide).
When asked during the postgame interviews, James lightly said “s**t hurts” and Giannis said “my bad,” and everyone moved on nicely – or so we thought.
The Bucks won that game, 116-109. They survived Harden’s 42 points by having him commit nine turnovers. Giannis, meanwhile, powered on with 27 points and 21 rebounds.
MARCH 2019 – James and his Houston Rockets visited Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks, all ready to exact revenge and split the season series… until they basically got punched in the mouth. The Bucks’ All-Defense guard Eric Bledsoe clamped down on Harden and held him to just 9-for-26 shooting. Milwaukee won again, 108-94, probably furthering James’s frustration on the pesky Bucks and his MVP foe, whose team dominated despite him having a pedestrian outing (19 points on 7-for-15 shooting).
Giannis eventually won the award by season’s end, leaving Harden clutching his beard – and probably his pearls.
AUGUST 2019 – During a radio interview, James dished out some thoughts on the new MVP:
James Harden on last season and not winning MVP.
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 22, 2019
"I think once the media creates a narrative about somebody from the beginning of the year, I think they just take that narrative and run with it the entire year."
Via @979TheBox / @Rockets_Insider
pic.twitter.com/4R5DJcfVWq
The “narrative,” most probably, is Giannis growing into a newly beloved superstar going into the 2018-19 season, someone who could be the face of the league once LeBron James retires. It also blew up as the months went along as he has lifted the Bucks into becoming an elite title contender.
That didn’t sit well with James, the then-reigning MVP, who’s been lighting up defenses on a nightly basis – he ended the regular season as the scoring champ with 36.1 points per game and, at one point, had 30-straight games with 30 or more points.
Giannis didn’t fire back.
OCTOBER 2019 – Houston, Texas, opening week of the 2019-20 season, the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks are debuting against each other. James is now reunited with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate and 2017 MVP, Russell Westbrook, and he’s pumped. The Rockets took control early and even headed to the second half holding a 16 point lead… until they didn’t. They got punched in the mouth… AGAIN.
The Bucks stormed back and scored 39 points in the fourth quarter to go home with a 117-111 victory. Giannis tallied a triple double of 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in just 28 minutes of play, while Harden became a facilitator (14 assists) due to his putrid 2-for-13 shooting – 14 of his 19 points were from the charity stripe.
Here’s Giannis getting frustrated at what he feels is a good ‘ol James Harden flop:
FEBRUARY 7, 2019 – The NBA All-Star live draft between Team LeBron and Team Giannis. Things are going as usual until The Greek Freak recognized Charles Barkley’s set-up and delivered a nice quip.
"I want someone that's gonna pass the ball…"
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 7, 2020
Giannis, on taking Kemba Walker over James Harden ???? pic.twitter.com/0sveuFQ5K6
FEBRUARY 17, 2019 – 2020 All-Star Game. James is probably fed up with Giannis, so he decides to put his defensive shoes on. Watch him play the toughest defense he’s played in years. There’s pushing, shoving, elbowing, and just all-around pleasantries:
Giannis outscored Harden, 25-11, but Harden was under Team LeBron, who won the thrilling contest, 157-55. He also played solid in the super competitive fourth quarter, while the Bucks star was held scoreless in the frame.
But hold up. That wouldn’t stop Giannis from throwing subtle shots. He’s the reigning MVP and leads the best team in the league, so off we went during the postgame press conference:
Giannis Antetokounmpo says the Team Giannis offensive strategy in the 4th quarter was to go at whoever James Harden was guarding pic.twitter.com/pXV3Blz49P
— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) February 17, 2020
Harden was the victor that time. It’s his time to just sit back – or so we thought… AGAIN.
FEBRUARY 29, 2020 – James is doing a sit-down interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. When the talk shifted to Giannis, he figured it’s time to throw some new shade.
"I wish I could be 7 feet and run and just dunk, like that takes no skill at all, I gotta actually learn how to play basketball, how to have skill" – Harden on Giannis ????
— ContentNBA (@ContentNBA) February 28, 2020
Can’t wait for March 25th pic.twitter.com/mLZAzqoUTg
That riled up fans and NBA analysts, but The Greek Freak quickly downplayed the rising tension – for now, at least.
"There's not back and forth. … At the end of the day, if that's what [James Harden] believes, that's what he believes."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 29, 2020
—Giannis Antetokounmpo on James Harden's comments about him pic.twitter.com/92XoqMxeGU
It’s been documented how good of a troll he is when he wants to be. In fact, he just answered Drake’s antics with a similar vibe – “He cares about me, I really don’t [care about him].”
So, yeah, when’s their next matchup?
The Bucks (50-8) and Rockets (38-20) will meet on March 26 in downtown Milwaukee, home of some of the best trolling fans in the league. The same arena where they played the Barney theme on the Toronto Raptors, and the same crowd that chanted “SoundCloud rapper!” to Damian Lillard.
The two superstars are parading astounding averages – Giannis is at 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 55.1% shooting and Harden is at a league-leading 35.2 points, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 4.6 threes.
Mark that date down. Let’s hope and pray for a basketball slugfest.
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