Giannis is a once in a lifetime player and last night was another example of why we should never take him for granted.

So Rob Perez is like the Jomboy of the NBA. The above video is a fantastic recap of what all went down in the Bucks/Pistons game last night.

No Dame, no Bobby, no Middleton, no Ryan Rollins last night for the Bucks. The Pistons were banged up too, but not nearly to the extent that Milwaukee was. You knew it was going to be an uphill climb based on the injuries, and outside of Giannis this team looked deader than dead for the first few quarters. Giannis legitimately scored 22 of their 24 first quarter points.

Early 3rd quarter, the Pistons were up 18 and it felt like the Bucks were set to mail it in. Then Isaiah Stewart choke slammed Giannis and got ejected. That moment seemed to be a smelling salt for the rest of the team! Brook started making plays, Prince started making plays/pancakes, hell even Gary Trent Jr. showed signs of life!

Eventually we have a 111-111 tie with 1.1 seconds left, and the Pistons inbounding side out. What happened next defies explanation. The Pistons lob it to the rim, Giannis gets a hand on it, time expires, we’re headed to overtime. Right? Wrong. For some reason the officials go to review, and somehow, SOMEHOW, end up giving the Pisons two free throws! At NO point did I think that was what they were reviewing on the monitor. An absolute DISGRACE of a call and review.

At that point you figured the Pistons would hit at least one free throw and escape with a win like a cat burglar. Enter: Ron Holland. 19 years old, the 5th overall pick in last June’s draft. My man was shaking like a LEAF at the free throw line. He puckered on the first one, and based on how bad that shot looked you felt like there was a decent chance he’d miss the second. And he did just that! Somewhere Rasheed Wallace smiles:

We go to overtime, the Bucks score 8 quick points with Giannis and Brook knocking down 3’s and they ultimately win 127-120.

The final line for Giannis? 59 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. INSANE. He willed that team to a win. He was relentless, he was unstoppable. And it was another example of why we should never, EVER, take Giannis for granted. This season has been a mess so far, and who knows if the two wins they notched this week will mean anything at the end of the day, but as long as Giannis is in a Bucks’ jersey and I am able to watch or listen to a game, I’m doing just that. He’s a once in a lifetime unicorn of a player. He works hard, he gives a shit, he loves the city, he lays it on the line EVERY game. He even got choked up in the postgame as the crowd chanted ‘M-V-P! M-V-P!’ for him:

Maybe they do nothing this season, maybe the championship window is closed and sealed. But I will never take the Giannis-Era for granted. There will never be another one like him and it is going to be a DARK period when he’s gone.

PS: I saw some scuttlebutt on ESPN Milwaukee yesterday that, according to sources, Dame wants out of Milwaukee ASAP. I hope there’s no truth to that, for the most part Dame has said all of the right things despite the chemistry between him and the rest of the team not coming together the way we all hoped. I truly think last night can be a turning point for this team, and a fully invested Dame needs to be a big part of that.