VOA慢速英语--希腊人庆祝密尔沃基队获得NBA总冠军

 Greeks Celebrate Milwaukee Team’s NBA Championship

As the Milwaukee Bucks¹ were about to win the NBA basketball championship Tuesday, people in Greece were watching closely.

With less than a minute left in the game, Yiannis Tzikas was getting ready to celebrate.

"It's over. No one can turn this game now," he said. His hands were shaking as he prepared to open a bottle of champagne², an alcoholic³ drink often served for celebrations.

Tzikas runs the Kivotos Café in Sepolia, a town in the Athens area. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo used to get a sandwich and a drink at the restaurant on his way to play basketball as a teenager.

Tzikas opened the café to watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the championship series of the National Basketball Association.

Antetokounmpo is known as the "Greek Freak." He led the Milwaukee team to its first championship in 50 years. The team defeated the Phoenix⁴ Suns 105 to 98.

After the game ended, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted a message on social media: "Incredible⁵ Giannis! Greeks everywhere celebrate!"

Antetokounmpo finished with 50 points, 14 rebounds⁷ and five blocked shots. He was named the most valuable player of the series.

"This is Giannis' moment. He earned it and we're proud of him," Tzikas said.

The final game was played in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There is an eight hour difference from Athens. The game started at four o'clock in the morning local time. But Tzikas' cafe was filled with local basketball fans, along with Antetokounmpo's old supporters and friends in Sepolia.

They sat concerned through the first half of the game as Phoenix was winning. But the crowd came to life later as Milwaukee pulled ahead.

Kyriacos Hager watched while wearing Giannis' jersey⁸. "[Antetokounmpo] has brought back sporting role models to this generation," he said. "He's no longer Giannis from Sepolia, he's Giannis of the entire world, an inspiration⁹ to a lot of people."

Tzikas' Café has a wall of framed memorabilia from the Antetokounpmo family. There are autographed jerseys¹⁰ and basketballs from the Bucks and the Greek national team.

The restaurant is close to where Antetokounmpo and his brothers, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex, grew up. Giannis' three brothers also play professional basketball. Their parents were immigrants from Nigeria and gave their four boys Greek names.

Tzikas said Giannis always stops by the cafe when he visits Greece. He said his personality has not changed even with his fame.

"He was always simple, humble¹¹, and polite and when he grew up, he never forgot where he started," he said. "He had a lot against him. He was poor and he was a different color than the rest of us and he made it...He believed in his dream and he made it happen."

Words in This Story

freak — adj. not natural, normal, or likely

rebound⁶ –n. the act of getting the basketball after a shot is missed;

jersey — n. a loose shirt worn by a member of a sports team as part of a uniform

inspiration — n. something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create

memorabilia – n. objects or materials that are collected because they are related to a particular event, person, etc. : things collected as remembrances of a past trip or activity

autograph – n. the signature of a famous person

humble — adj. not thinking of yourself as better than other people

polite –adj. having or showing good manners and respect for other people

1 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

3 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

4 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

5 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

6 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

7 rebounds   

反弹球( rebound的名词复数 )； 回弹球； 抢断篮板球； 复兴

参考例句：

• V is the velocity after the gas particle rebounds from the wall. V是粒子从壁上弹开后的速度。
• In the former case, the first body rebounds with practically its original velocity. 在前一种情况下，第一个物体实际上以原来的速度弹回。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

10 jerseys   

n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The maximum quantity of cotton jerseys this year is about DM25,000. 平方米的羊毛地毯超过了以往的订货。 来自口语例句
• The NBA is mulling the prospect of stitching advertising logos onto jerseys. 大意：NBA官方正在酝酿一个大煞风景的计划——把广告标志绣上球服！ 来自互联网

11 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。