Giannis Antetokounmpo is seen carrying the NBA championship trophy in the picture above in one hand and his new Rolex Sky-Dweller on his other wrist. In only his 7th season, Antetokounmpo has achieved something that very few would have ever guessed… an NBA championship for the Milwaukee Bucks franchise.
LeBron James is nowhere to be found. Even the Brooklyn Nets’ superstars James Harden and Kevin Durant were not found playing for the NBA ultimate prize. It was a Greek power forward with great scoring ability and a nose for the basket that led the East against the powerhouse Western Conference champions the Phoenix Suns.
For many, the Suns were the team to beat. In fact, many people wrote off the Bucks as a nice story, but expected a quick end to their historic run. In fact, there was much precedence to these thoughts. The Heat ended their run last year even before the finals. The year before it was the Toronto Raptors that put an end to the Buck’s hopes to get to the championship playoff series.
Antetokounmpo is an all around player. He is tall, with a length of 6 foot 11 inches. This helps him contend with other strong forwards in the game and even match up against some of the league’s taller centers. His quickness and game intelligence has helped him to become a 5 time all-star, and a 4 time all-defensive player, and more importantly a 2 time league MVP.
Antetokounmpo didn’t receive much love right from the beginning. He was not one the highly touted players in the 2013 draft and although he was selected in the 1st round, he fell to the 15th pick. The Bucks took a shot at one of the youngest NBA players – the 18 year old semi-pro Greek B Basket League player.
It was easy for people to overlook this phenomenal player because most American basketball players first showcase their talents in the NCAA, and often play for some of the greatest college coaches before signing up for the NBA draft. Yes, there are a small few that make the leap from high school to the NBA, but college is a path that is paved for training some of the most dominant NBA superstars.
Antetokounmpo spent the first three years at Milwaukee learning and developing his talents. He had flashes of greatness in the early years, showing that he could achieve scoring totals of 27 points and 33 points in a single game. And he showed his well roundedness with producing the youngest triple-double in Buck’s history.
In 2016 Antetokounmpo had his breakout year and established himself as one of the best players in the league. He had a 39 point game. He picked up the Bucks by the bootstraps and took charge by leading the Bucks in all 5 areas – points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
The last 4 seasons have just proven that Antetokounmpo is a steady producer with reliable defense and offense and high energy on both sides of the court. However this year was special. Not only did he play great during the regular season, but he upped his play during the playoffs.
Great players play great when the chips are on the table and when the challenge is the greatest. We saw that with Michael Jordan. We saw flashes of that with LeBron James and even Kevin Durant.
This year, Antetokounmpo improved his scoring during the playoffs to over 30 points per game. His 2 point scoring percentage rose to an amazing 64%. And yet, he still played outstanding defense, collected nearly 13 rebounds a game, 1 and a half blocks and a steal a game. And to seal the deal, in game 6 of the NBA finals he dropped an amazing 50 points and led his team to a historic victory and the team’s first championship since 1971.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and His Rolex Sky-Dweller
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Rolex Sky-Dweller Reference 326934 may seem like an unlikely pairing after winning the biggest game in such tremendous fashion. NBA superstars are often known to show off their wealth with some well deserved bling. Antetokounmpo did the same but was oddly reserved by selecting a Rolex Sky-Dweller.
Although the Rolex Sky-Dweller is a perfect timepiece for an NBA star, it is more likely to see a player like LeBron James pick a Yellow-Gold version of the timepiece which he does, in-fact own. This reference is a white gold version with the Oyster rolesor bracelet combining both white gold and steel.
At 42mm this timepiece is larger than most Rolex timepieces but smaller than some of the 44mm ones. It has a new Caliber 9001 movement which features a 72 hour power reserve, and the GMT function through a 24 hour center disk.
The unique feature of the Sky-Dweller includes not only this GMT function, but also the Month display which appears tastefully through one of the 12 apertures around the circumference of the dial. You can see in the picture above, there is a red appearance in the aperture at the 8 o’clock position. This gives you the accurate date of August 28.
The 2 times are represented by the normal hands and the red downward arrow at 12 o’clock pointing down at the circular disk. In the above we can see that the current time is 10:12 both in the main time zone and also in the 2nd time zone.
It is easy to see why Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Rolex Sky-Dweller would be a perfect pair. It is effective, efficient and does everything with elegance, just as Antetokounmpo plays the game of basketball. He isn’t overly flashy, but he does so with the ultimate precision.
Rubber B has two strap models that work precisely with the new Rolex Sky-Dweller. The Classic series pictured above supports the original Oyster Rolex Clasp that comes with the steel band. It tightly connects to the Rolex case using “Blocked Integration,” which is a unique technique that allows the timepiece to leave no gaps between the lug and the timepiece case.
Rubber B also has a new Swimskin model band that looks and feels like real Kevlar but is actually 100% vulcanized rubber. It is perfect for physical activities such as Basketball, swimming or the beach. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Rolex Sky-Dweller would pair perfectly with either of these bands from Rubber B.
For more information visit our Rubber B page for the Rolex Sky-Dweller here.
