Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is widely regarded by many as one of the faces of the new generation of NBA players. Even the league’s legends support this claim. For the former NBA champion Paul Pierce, “The Greek Freak” is undoubtedly today’s finest player in the East Conference.
Pierce had bestowed Antetokounmpo with the title of best, but his fellow former teammate Kevin Garnett said otherwise. The two recently engaged in the “ALL THE SMOKE“ podcast. During a segment, “The Truth” raised the Bucks’ star potential to be the best. However, his insights were straightforwardly rejected by “the Big Ticket.”
“I’m not arguing that. I would not argue against (Joel) Embiid, against (Jayson) Tatum. He’s probably like the fourth-best player in the East,” said Kevin Garnett in response to Paul Pierce regarding Antetokounmpo.
Garnett and Pierce argued about Antetokounmpo’s potential for the rest of the podcast. Despite the latter’s defense, the former wasn’t convinced and stayed to his beliefs that the Bucks star is not the East’s finest.
Last season, Antetokounmpo played in 73 games, all of which he started. He averaged 30.4 points, a career-high 6.5 assists, and 11.5 rebounds. His team ended up in third place at the end of the regular season.
Unfortunately, the 2021 NBA Finals MVP suffered misfortune at the start of the playoffs. Even before the postseason, he was already suffering from a calf injury. However, Antetokounmpo was forced to accept that he couldn’t play for the Bucks for the remainder of their run.
This would prove a heavy hindrance to Milwaukee. Without their Greek star, they ultimately lost in six games against the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the playoffs. It was genuinely unlucky for Antetokounmpo, but he’ll eventually recover from his injury in the offseason.
The eight-time NBA All-Star was even allowed to play for the Greek men’s basketball team at the 2024 Paris Olympics but finished the tournament without a medal.
Giannis Antetokounmpo will continue to bring the Bucks to the top next season.
Antetokounmpo will remain with Milwaukee for the upcoming games in October. Like all the previous ones, he is again on a mission to get his team more wins and land a high standing throughout the season.
This is possible since the Greek-Nigerian has skilled teammates who would help him. However, the challenge comes in the postseason, when they’ll have to decide whether they’ll emerge victorious against other threatening teams.
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