Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to shine on the international stage, and the Greek superstar has looked like a man among boys at times. Giannis has been wreaking havoc throughout this run with Greece, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
He was recently locked in a battle with reigning two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, but despite Giannis scoring 40 points, the Serbians managed to come away with the win. He wasn’t going to let Greece suffer another defeat next time around, however, as he dropped 26 points to go with 7 rebounds in under 28 minutes of action to lead them to an 85-68 win over Belgium. He was at his brutal best in the game, and one particular highlight caught the attention of Kendrick Perkins, who had high praise for Antetokounmpo.
Most Dominant Player in the Game!!! Carry the hell on… https://t.co/CNUWcZcDrd
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) August 28, 2022
It is hard to argue with that statement from Perkins, as Giannis does seem to be the most dominant player in the world at the moment. His athleticism is too much to handle at this point, and as he continues to improve in the other aspects of his game, it is becoming a lot harder to find a way to stop him.
He almost single-handedly took the Bucks past the Celtics in the playoffs this past season, as he averaged nearly 34 points per game in that series. It was a bruising physical battle, and you have to think that if Khris Middleton was healthy, then they would have advanced and perhaps would have gone on to repeat as NBA champions. We’ll never know how things would have panned out, of course, but they’ll have plenty more cracks at it with Giannis at the peak of his powers.
He has somewhat surprisingly had some criticism directed toward him recently, with Gilbert Arenas stating that Giannis doesn’t understand basketball yet. It was a wild statement to make, and Arenas basically doubled down on it later to make things worse. Is Giannis perfect? No, but he is still great, and Chris Broussard came to his defense after Arenas’ comments.
“Basketball is not a skills competition … In basketball, it’s about production and winning .. .He’s not Kevin Durant, he’s not Dirk Nowitzki, he just can’t shoot very well, but he’s got very good skills for a guy his size. And when you combine it with his athleticism, his production is off the charts!
At this moment in time, he should be beyond these little petty criticisms. They weren’t criticizing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he didn’t shoot 18-foot jump shots. They didn’t criticize Shaq because he didn’t shoot threes. So, don’t criticize Giannis because he doesn’t handle the ball like Kyrie Irving or shoot like Kevin Durant!”
For Arenas to say such a thing about an individual who has won 2 MVPs and a Defensive Player of the Year to go with that title and Finals MVP last year is crazy. As Broussard also mentions, Giannis should be beyond such petty criticisms after all he has done on the court over the last few years. You wonder what it is going to take for some of his critics to acknowledge how great he truly is, as a championship doesn’t seem to be enough.
