By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Jun 25, 2019 at 8:56 AM

The playoffs may not have ended the way Milwaukee may have hoped, but the 2018-19 season still ended with Giannis and the Bucks hoisting a whole bunch of hardware. 

At last night's NBA Awards – conveniently timed seemingly years after the season ended – Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and GM Jon Horst both came away winners in their respective categories. But the biggest prize and the biggest moment of the night belonged to the Greek Freak, as the Bucks superstar handily came away with the title of Most Valuable Player over Houston's James Harden and Oklahoma City's Paul George.

It may not be the championship, or even merely the NBA Finals visit, this season seemed to portend, but Giannis' win is still an unbelievably proud moment for a city that watched its young star grow up on the court, then help grow the city around him. 

Let's savor the night Giannis officially took over the NBA one more time with these nine memorable moments from Monday's NBA Awards. 

1. Milwaukee's best

Even before he took the stage to accept his award, it felt like the night was leading up to Giannis' coronation as the Bucks' first MVP (winning three times during his time in Milwaukee) was there to hand the torch off to the team's second.

2. Antetokounbros

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Go go power rangers😂😂 #Antetokounbros

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Giannis has always put his family first, so it should comes as no surprise that the AntetoCrewmnpo showed up for the Greek Freak's big night – and looked mighty dashing as well, rocking these colorful threads. 

3. "Shaq Fu: The Return of the Return"

Host Shaq's history of rapping generally hasn't gone over well with ears, but it was clearly music to Giannis' last night as he opened the show with some lyrics. Man, Giannis MUST'VE been in a good mood.

4. You can't win them all

Hmm, well, in fairness to Kareem, it's not like he literally chatted and posed for photos with Giannis earlier that night OH WAIT. 

5. I'm not crying; it's just been raining on my face

Man, who's cutting onions? Show yourself! If you don't get teared up listening to Giannis' speech Monday night – especially the part in which he talks about his mother Veronica, his late father Charles or his family's incredible journey from poverty in a country that didn't accept them to celebrating their success with the highest individual honor in a global sport – your eyes just might not work right. And you should get them examined. Or maybe you're just a Rockets fan.

6. Humbled

Seriously, how can you not love this guy? We can allow debate over whether or not Harden deserved the trophy over Giannis (I mean, we won't listen to it, but we'll allow it), but there's no arguing that this regular season belonged to Giannis, his rise to stardom and his taking the mantle as one of the great players in the NBA right now. Few people made watching basketball more fun this past year.

7. Representing Greece inside and out

If you thought Giannis' outfit looked good on the outside, wait until you see the inside, featuring a photographic shoutout to Greece pressed into the inner lining. Maybe Milwaukee can grab that spot when he takes the stage for his next Most Valuable Player award win. 

8. What, you thought you were done crying?

BUT SERIOUSLY, WHO'S CHOPPING THE ONIONS!?

9. From one MVP to another

Milwaukee may not have any championships to show for it (yet), but these last few years have blessed Brew City with some of the best seasons and the best stars it's ever seen. To have one MVP to celebrate, that's impressive. To have two at once sharing our city? Legendary.

Maybe it's been done before (11 times in the sports' combined history, including just a few years ago with Jose Altuve and James Harden in Houston) but for a city as starved for sports success, or at least as pessimistic about it, as Milwaukee, it feels like something completely brand new.

Now we just need Aaron Rodgers to play up to the level we know he can and make it an MV-Threepeat. 

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.