Indeed, following an entire NBA season is a management exercise.
He has spent so much time immersed in the hypothesis: the next coup d’éte of the relaxed agency, the imaginable exchanges of superstars, the rush to crown one candidate and overthrow another. Moments are underestimated or lost altogether in this cause-and-effect carousel. Appreciating and reflecting on the offer is complicated when there is an overview at all times.
Giannis Antetounmpo is one of the few stars that merge the two schools.
What you’re doing now is never ignored because it made it impossible. Every season of your career is a march of progress. It’s a viable cornerstone of the franchise, then a star, then a megastar, then an MVP, then an MVP favorite. And his giant (literal) steps serve the longer-term vision, a league-wide acquisition that has fueled the obsession with his long-term career and, most importantly, solidified his trajectory as one of the greatest of all time.
His last feat juggles once with this double accent. He is the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, an award that puts him in the rarefied air when combined with last year’s MVP award:
Signs of all kinds paint the same dominant image. Antetokounmpo is first on the NBA Shot Charts DRAPM (even adjusting luck) and the first in NBA Math in registered defensive issues. ESPN’s true more-defensive did not take it into favorable consideration (ninth), however, it was placed above any direct DPOY festival other than Gobert (first).
More than anything, however, I wonder if anything else could have surpassed Antetokounmpo without any meaning. Surely it is the culmination of a season, but also his painting in its entirety.
Their dominance is only sustainable. He’s exhausted. He has an average of 26.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.5 blocks in more than 4 seasons, while dropping 59.4% of his two points. Historical comparisons of their pershapeance essentially exist; invented a new shape and a new fill point.
No one beats him on the three-year RAPM on the NBA Shot Charts, not even adjusted by luck. He is the 16th all-time win and 10th in the replacement player’s price in his 25-year season.
But perhaps the truest logo of its greatness, apart from the fact that its possible signature loose in 2021 is open, is that of its flaws.
Its lack of reliable external chimney remains one thing, a defect that is used both to help and to drill. Social media accounts go crazy when he pulls out a three, because nailing triples into an effective clip would give him irreversible control in the league. On some level, their relatively limited diversity makes the Bucks fairly easy to solve in a postseason series.
That Antetokounmpo wants his outdoor shot is not a fact. He solved it. He increased his volume to 3 numbers and cooked in more turns and far jumps if his dribble stopped before reaching the hoop. Both exert a stressing appearance on the defenses and ensure that their good luck is not based on the situation. Change it to Simmons and the Bucks are probably worse.
On a more particular level, Antetokounmpo has already won MVP. Plural. Probably. And it’s not done in the playoffs once the defenses have hardened.
D’ELIAS: Giannis Antetokounmpo is the first player in NBA history to open a playoff series with four consecutive games with at least 2 five points, 10 rebounds and five assists. https://t.co/se0khMOMfivel
Imperfections, imperfections? – there are no gaps or real holes in your game. They look more like cracks or wrinkles, no matter how much but hardly prohibitive. One or two groups are built to constrain it. None of them will do it completely.
Winning a title, it’s no small thing, is all that’s left of Antetokounmpo’s most sensible résumé. Counting rings is an oversimplification of all-time discussions, but this curtain also counts. Championships are aircraft fuel for comparisons and classifications between periods.
Maybe this name will come this season. He doesn’t want it. The Bucks who fall into the NBA Finals or before leaving the Eastern Conference do not replace Antetokounmpo’s current scenario and the bandwidth he still has to scale.
Because, unquestionably, she has already crystallized her career as one of the NBA of all time – no title, no coherent triples and, more terrifyingly, without necessarily achieving the most sensible of her powers.
Unless otherwise stated, statistics are provided through NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and pay attention to his podcast Hardwood Knocks, co-host via Adam Fromal of B/R.