Giannis Antetokounmpo Finishes Seventh In Rookie Of The Year Voting

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo exceeded expectations in his rookie season.

The Bucks are finally on the board.

After being shut out of the voting for each of the NBA’s awards thus far, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a third-place vote for the Rookie of the Year award, which was announced Monday. Philadelphia’s Michael Carter-Williams was the runaway victor, garnering 104 of 124 possible first place votes and 569 total points. Orlando’s Victor Oladipo finished second (364 points), with Utah’s Trey Burke (96), Brooklyn’s Mason Plumlee (58) and New York’s Tim Hardaway (23) rounding out the top five.

Carter-Williams became the third consecutive point guard to win the award after Damian Lillard (2012-13) and Kyrie Irving (2011-12) took home honors the past two seasons. The Syracuse product averaged 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game – all tops among rookies.

Curiously enough Antetokounmpo, who tied for seventh with the Thunder’s Steven Adams and the Grizzlies’ Nick Calathes, received his lone third-place vote from Brian Davis of Fox Sports Oklahoma – Adams’ local station. Earlier in the season, prior to the All-Star break, it appeared Antetokounmpo was in position to compete for the award, though his numbers tapered off after the New Year. Antetokounmpo finished his freshman campaign with averages of 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 24.6 minutes per game. He shot 41.4 percent from the field but was unable to top 38.3 percent in any single month after January.

Check out the complete voting results below:

NBA.com