Giannis Antetokounmpo answered every question asked of him during the Bucks championship run that culminated in one of the all-time great individual Finals performances, as Giannis scored 50 points with 14 rebounds and five blocks to close out the Suns and win his first NBA title.
The scene after the game in Milwaukee was one of jubilation and raw emotion, with Giannis putting on an almost equally dominant performance at the trophy ceremony, his postgame presser, and Instagram Live which rolled on into Wednesday morning at Chick-Fil-A. Antetokounmpo praised his teammates, offered appreciation for his family, and pounded the table, literally, for how he was able to get this done in Milwaukee without leaving for a superteam.
What he did in the Finals was Shaq-like — he became the only player since Shaq to post three 40/10 games in a single Finals — and anyone questioning whether he could lead a team to a title found themselves with an emphatic answer. Among those who had spent much of this postseason questioning Giannis was ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, who called Khris Middleton the actual Batman of the team and that Jrue Holiday was their best two-way player, eventually recanting a bit on Twitter during Game 6. However, Jalen Rose didn’t forget all those things Perk said, and when the two joined Mike Greenberg on Get Up! on Wednesday morning, Jalen spent more than a minute roasting Perk’s bad Bucks takes for how wrong he was.
Jalen Rose FLAMING Big Perk about his bad NBA FINALS takes pic.twitter.com/x9Da0ncOi1
— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) July 21, 2021
There is nothing Jalen loves more than absolutely cooking someone for bad takes or a stupid mistake, and, honestly, it is one of his best attributes. Rose is a “keeping it real” Hall of Famer and what he does to Perk here is incredible. Perk seemed to take the segment a bit personally, saying people are “praying for his downfall” and calling out the “haters,” to which Rose responded to say there was nothing personal about it.
I just tried to call you. Nobody praying for your downfall or hating on you. (or @EmmanuelAcho). Sorry if you took it that way Perk. https://t.co/55JauIPuph
— Jalen Rose (@JalenRose) July 21, 2021
Jalen’s right, he does this to everyone and is maybe the best person at ESPN when it comes to consistently calling folks out when they’ve been wrong and, at the minimum, holding them accountable for them by way of jokes. You don’t have to go that far back to see Rose do this to Jay Williams, cracking an “I got hacked” joke on air after Williams used that excuse for a really wrong tweet about the Celtics. So, if Perk is worried he’s getting picked on by Jalen, that’s not the case. Rose is just not going to let you slide on by after some bad takes, which, honestly, is what everyone in the sports media could use more of.