Giannis Antetokounmpo has accomplished a lot in his 9 year NBA career. He’s an NBA champion, Finals MVP, 2x League MVP, All-Star Game MVP, a 6x All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and a 3x First Team All-NBA selection. And he just broke Kareem-Abdul Jabbar’s franchise scoring record.
During last night’s 120-119 OT win over the Brooklyn Nets, Giannis poured in 44pts to give him 14,216 for his career, 5 more than the former Bucks legend. The scariest part? He’s only 27 years old…
With a trophy case that rivals that of most Hall of Famers, the Greek Freak’s recent play has launched him back to the top of the heap of the MVP conversation. He’s currently averaging a 30.1pts/11.7reb/5.8ast statline which would mark the highest points per game total of his career.
Giannis put on a masterclass in efficiency in the win, going 14/21 from the field, and 15/19 from the free throw line in 39 minutes. He also chipped in 14 boards and 6 assists, while hitting a game tying 3 pointer to send the game to OT, and 2 key free throws with under 3 seconds remaining in the extra frame.
Once viewed almost exclusively as a “dunker”, Giannis has been steadily adding elements to his game each season which has made the forward virtually unguardable at this point. His ability to affect the game not just on the offensive side, but also defensively makes him a true game changer that few can rival.
The native of Athens, Greece is the 3rd player in NBA history to average at least 25pts/10reb/5ast/1blk/1stl per game over the course of a full season. That ability to contribute in multiple categories is why he’s been named to the All-NBA 1st team and All-NBA Defensive 1st team every year since 2019.
“It’s good because I’m changing the narrative,” Antetokounmpo said following the game. “I don’t want to be the guy only that dunks and runs. I can make a 3.”
The power forward has been on a tear recently, averaging 33.25pts per game for the month of March. This hot streak has allowed Giannis to catch LeBron James for the NBA scoring title lead as both currently sit at 30.1pts per game.
The Bucks are next in action Sunday April 3rd against the Dallas Mavericks.
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.