Milwaukee Bucks: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a superstar

Everyone hoped prior to the season that Giannis Antetokounmpo would continue to grow. The naive, go-lucky Greek teenager was becoming one of the league’s most lovable stars. To the joy of fans across the world, the Greek Freak became a true superstar this year.

After increasing every primary box score statistic for four straight seasons, Antetokounmpo had to leave behind some of his jack-of-all-trades ability to truly dominate as a scorer. One year after raising his per-game scoring by six points, Antetokounmpo raised it another four. He tied for fourth in the league at 26.9 points per game.

Averaging a double-double for the first time in his career, Antetokounmpo was in the thick of the MVP race all season long. While Houston Rockets guard James Harden will most likely win, it will not be a surprise to see Antetokounmpo’s name among the five top finishers. Milwaukee may not have had a star of this stature since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The next step for Antetokounmpo will be postseason success, and he fell short again with a first round loss to the Boston Celtics. But with a new head coach soon to be hired, the future is uncertain but optimistic. With a player as good as Antetokounmpo on the roster, the path to contention is much shorter than most.