At the age of 26, Giannis Antetokounmpo already has a legendary resume in the NBA. He’s won an NBA championship and Finals MVP. Along with that, he’s a perennial All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive player who has won two regular-season MVPs and a Defensive Player Of The Year award.
Giannis is a throwback player in the modern NBA. While the game has evolved into a more perimeter-based style, Giannis is a dominant big man who plays mostly in the interior. This is why many consider him such a colossal figure and so hard to stop during a game.
Antetokounmpo is considered the most dominant player in the NBA today. But Kendrick Perkins believes that Giannis, at this current rate, can surpass Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain and become the most dominant player in the history of the NBA (0:15 mark).
Big Perk explained to a perplexed Stephen A. Smith that Giannis is not even in his prime yet, and is already the most dominant player in the league. And all he has to do is continue this level of play and stay healthy for the course of his career to take that title away from Shaquille O’Neal.
With all due respect to Shaq, Wilt and others but when the smoke clears Giannis will go down as the MOST DOMINANT player EVER! Carry the hell on… https://t.co/6nmYbVOx5w
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) November 18, 2021
“In my opinion, I feel Shaq is the most dominant player ever. But if Giannis Antetokounmpo just could stay healthy… still in his prime, about to turn 27 years old, he will go down as the most dominant player ever. Ever. Period.”
“When Giannis is finished he will go down as the most dominant player ever. Right now, that’s Shaquille O’Neal, but Giannis isn’t even 27 years old yet and when he’s finished with his career, at the rate that he’s going, the rate that he’s dominating the league right now, what he’s already achieved and the way that he keeps getting better… The thing that he does that impresses me the most is he wants all the smoke. He takes matchups personal like last night what he did to Anthony Davis. He takes it personal. Don’t he remind you of those old school players?… He’s already the most dominant player in the league today. But if he stays healthy on the route that he’s going, he will finish his career as the most dominant player ever.”
Perkins is not wrong in his thought process at all. But many fans will argue that Giannis is still very young, and playing in an era where the physicality of the game is not that high. Therefore, it is easier for him to dominate because he is one of the few players who has the size and strength to be able to do that.
Shaq himself is a big fan of Giannis’, even passing on his legendary ‘Superman’ nickname to him and saying that Giannis is what he would be if played today. So clearly he has Shaq’s stamp of approval. But whether he can actually topple Shaq as the most dominant player of all time remains to be seen.
