Fending off the LeBron Lovers
I can already hear the cries of the millions of LeBron fans throughout the NBA world telling me I’m dead wrong about this. “LeBron can do everything. GOAT. Leads the league in assists in year 17.” Look, I’m not disregarding the fact that LeBron James is unquestionably one of the three best basketball players ever. There is no debate on that subject. However, on December 18, 2019, I am going to emphatically tell you that Giannis Antetokounmpo is a better basketball player than LeBron James. It’s time to accept this changing in the guard as fans. On that note The Greek Freak a new best player in the world.
Put Some Respect on His Name
Too many NBA fans are disrespecting the greatness we are witnessing from Giannis. We have NEVER seen a player quite like this. The casual NBA fans are not realizing what they are dismissing in Giannis. Remember, in the summer of 2017, Kevin Durant sang the praises of Giannis even before his MVP season when he said, “His ceiling is probably — he could end up being the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That’s pretty scary to think about.” KD is obviously one of the best minds when it comes to knowing the game of basketball. The fact that he says this before his breakout season last year is extremely incredible, and it goes to show how KD can see how players will develop.
Let’s Break it Down
Since LeBron is the only real argument that I get when talking about the best player in the NBA, we will stay focused on him. Without bringing up the entirety of LeBron’s 17-year greatness, what exactly is the LeBron argument? Over the last two years, Giannis has proven himself to be a better scorer than LeBron. Giannis’s mark of 29.7 points per game and an efficiency field goal percentage of 60% is a historic rate that has only been seen by the likes of Steph Curry and Shaq. While prime LeBron James was also an extremely efficient scorer, current LeBron has fallen off a bit in that regard.
Moving onto defense, Giannis is one of the two best defenders in the league. I would argue his versatility to guard quick wings along with his elite rim-protecting ability makes him the best defender in the league also. LeBron is a good defender, but he is not an elite-level defender. While Giannis is also a much better rebounder than LeBron, the only aspect that LeBron has over Giannis is his passing/play-making abilities.
Giannis has proven himself as a better scorer than LeBron, a better defender than LeBron, and a better rebounder than LeBron. The name of the game is putting the ball in the basket and defending your own basket. Don’t let the LeBron name and the fact that he is leading the league in assists distract you from the fact that Giannis is right now a better player than LeBron.
He’s not a Russell Westbrook…
Giannis’s absurd stat lines are not like Russell Westbrook. Westbrook’s stat lines are plentiful, but it hurts his team at times because of his disregard for efficiency in his game. This is why Westbrook does not make as much of an impact on teams as fans would expect he would. In fact, almost every team Westbrook is on underachieves. Giannis, on the other hand, is the exact opposite.
Last year, the Bucks shocked everyone by having the best record in the entire NBA. This year, the Milwaukee Bucks are tied with the Lakers for having the best record in the NBA. LeBron’s second-best player is a perennial superstar who is a top 7 player in the league. Giannis is surrounded by slightly above average players, but he is the one star in the NBA who doesn’t have his Robin. Him putting the Bucks on his shoulders the last two seasons has been an obvious sign of how historically great Giannis has been during this two-year stretch.
Last year, if it hadn’t been for a team specifically designed to hinder his offensive game, the Raptors, along with his supporting cast completely melting down, then we would be talking about Giannis as a Finals MVP and NBA champion. The narrative that Kawhi out-dueled Giannis is completely overblown. The Raptors won the series because of their surrounding players vastly outplaying the Bucks’ supporting cast. The NBA fan community needs to realize we are witnessing a player as we’ve never seen before in The Greek Freak.
