NBA Finals: Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks look to end Championship drought

The Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks will face off to see who will be crowned as the 2021 NBA Champions Both teams became NBA teams in 1969 and have had moments of glory The Bucks have been NBA Champions before winning the trophy in 1971 with KareemAbdul Jabbar at the helm Phoenix havenrsquot won a title but made the NBA Finals in 1993 with Charles Barkley just to lose to Michael JordanThis is the first Finals appearance for the Suns since 1993 and the Bucks are returning to the Finals for the first time since 1974 But the cast of players that have gotten these teams here are a unique mixThe Suns are led by 16year veteran point guard Chris Paul Paul is an 11time AllStar a consummate team leader and a gifted playmaker He ranks fifth in NBA history in both assists and steals and serves as the President of the National Basketball Players AssociationPaul has reached the NBA Finals for the first time at age 36 Winning an NBA championship would be a career capstone for one of the best point guards in league history An AllStar selection in each of the last two seasons the undersized Paul remains a marvel at an age when few players are even active let alone playing at an elite level Paul is flanked by 24year old shooting guard Devin Booker Booker is a twotime AllStar and scored 70 points in a game as a 21year old Chris Paul calls him ldquothe oldest 24yearold Irsquove ever metrdquoBooker has become one of the veterans on this young Suns team The true young star of the team is the 1 overall pick from the 2018 Draft DeAndre Ayton The 22year old is the second player from the Bahamas to make the NBA Finals and could celebrate his 23rd birthday as an NBA Champion as he turns 23 a day after a potential Finals Game 7Also ReadDignified Kiwis led by Kane give cricket a good nameThe Bucks have been close to the Finals before They were up 20 in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019 but lost to the Toronto Raptors who won four straight games on their way to that yearrsquos title But the Bucks have finally made it to the NBA Finals led by an eclectic crew of playersThey are led by twotime league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo Giannis is one of 12 players to win backtoback NBA MVP awards and in 201920 became the third player to be named MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season Michael Jordan and Hakeem OlajuwonGiannisrsquos extraordinary rise from playing in the second division in Greece as an NBA Draft prospect to developing into a twotime NBA MVP is the stuff of legend If he is able to play in the NBA Finals and lead the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years ndash on the heels of heartbreaking playoff losses the previous two seasons as the top overall seed ndash it would put the exclamation point on his journey to greatnessThe only other player still on this Bucks team since the 2013 draft when they signed Giannis is Khris Middleton Middleton is a twotime allstar and the first player to play in the NBA G League and go on to be named an NBA AllStar He has been the primary scoring option for the Bucks in closegame situations and has stepped up through Giannisrsquos recent injuries to lead the Bucks to the FinalsLike Giannis Middleton has taken an unlikely path to NBA stardom Secondround draft pick NBA G League experience Traded after his rookie season And yet he has developed into an NBA AllStar a US Olympian and a clutch performer who made play after play in the biggest moments of the Bucksrsquo run to the NBA FinalsThe Bucks have another former allstar to round out their big three in Jrue Holiday Holiday made the 202021 NBA AllDefensive First Team Along with that he won the 202021 NBA Sportsmanship Award and the 201920 TwymanStokes Teammate of the Year AwardBoth these teams have experienced roleplayers to add depth The only player on either team to have made an NBA Finals is Phoenixrsquos Jae Crowder who played in the 2020 Finals for the Miami Heat The Bucks have experienced centre Brook Lopez who is a former allstar as wellPhoenix also has fanfavourite talents like Cameron Payne a player who was playing in China a year ago after fledgling in the NBA from team to team Milwaukee has relied on their own fanfavourite Bobby Portis who played for the New York Knicks last season and was third in threepoint efficiency this seasonAlso ReadKumble meets Andhra CM suggests setting up sports university equipment factory