Giannis Antetokounmpo is by far one of the greatest players of this current generation. His ability to dominate in the paint on both ends of the court cannot be underestimated, the Greek Freak has tortured many an NBA team in recent seasons. The only way to stop him is to build a wall, and while some teams did do that in the past, as he has grown older, even that defensive tactic is now starting to lose its effectiveness.
Criticism is not something someone like Antetokounmpo worries about, but he clearly has had his critics. Until he led the Bucks to the championship in 2021, there were some that argued that his style wasn’t conducive to winning in the playoffs. And some still question his game, pointing to supposes flaws, the most major of which is his inability to shoot at a high rate away from the basket.
It’s safe to say that Giannis has improved that as well, his three-point shooting and his jump-shooting have both improved in the last few years. And Nick Wright, who is an NBA analyst, has gone even further and said he doesn’t even need that aspect of his game, comparing the Greek Freak to Shaquille O’Neal.
(starts at 5:29 minutes):
“So, people look at Giannis and they want him to be a traditional wing. And they’re like, ‘Why don’t you have the skill set of the traditional wing?’ What they misunderstand is what Giannis is, is the next generational Shaq. What they misunderstand, is that Giannis is not a traditional wing.
“He is the futuristic center, he has the size the power and the strength of a center who also can do other things. Can bring the ball up, can hit the occasional 3-pointer. They’re looking at him through the prism of he is the modern wing.
“Well, it’s the only justification or explanation for this criticism he gets right because nobody criticized Shaq about this. … Nobody and they would have seemed ridiculous if they were like, ‘Why doesn’t Shaq have a pull-up jump shot?'”
The one thing that makes Giannis truly scary is that he never really stops improving. His shooting has also been an area of improvement for him, and if he truly starts shooting even decent percentages from range, it might just be over for the rest of the league. He’s getting there, if practice footage is anything to go by, and there’s not many that would bet against him at this point.
