The Giannis Antetokounmpo narratives continue to grow as his remarkable career continues.
While the Milwaukee Bucks’ season had a brutal start, it was only a matter of time until they course-corrected. They’ve got a franchise superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way, making dealing with the woes much easier.
Of course, having Damian Lillard as his co-star and a head coach like Doc Rivers willing to make key adjustments and find the right pieces to play alongside those two is quite beneficial, but that doesn’t take away from how dominant Antetokounmpo is.
This season, the Bucks superstar is averaging 31.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while helping the team to incredible form. Milwaukee is currently 24-17 and in sole possession of the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Antetkounmpo is dominant in his own regard. There isn’t a good player to compare the Bucks superstar to. He’s quite a different archetype than the NBA has seen before, which makes all that much more entertaining.
However, there is a grouping for Antetokounmpo that fans and media tend to place him in when making comparisons — with one of those players being Shaquille O’Neal. Two-time NBA champion and former veteran Rajon Rondo took to a recent episode of “Run it Back” to give his verdict of who is the better of the two players.
“He’s one of one. He’s his own person, his own identity as far as something we’ve never seen in our game before. I think he is more dominant in the paint than Shaq,” Rondo explained. “Times are different and I don’t want to go at it with Shaq or anything, but I’m saying I think his percentages are greater, and I think he’s scored more points in the paint.”
While it’s hard to compare different players from different generations straight up, it’s worth understanding just how dominant Antetokounmpo is in the paint — especially with the current state of the NBA and how difficult it is to score against opposing defenses.
The Bucks might have started the season poorly, but things have turned around for them in a big way. In the middle of is prime, Antetokounmpo’s career is well decorated. He’s achieved quite a bit as an MVP winner and NBA champion.
Most recently, Antetokounmpo has tacked on an NBA Cup championship onto his resume, too. Outside of being well-accomplished, the Greek forward is absolutely dominant.
In his prime and continuing to improve and develop his game, Antetokounmpo will keep the Bucks in contention. As long as he’s providing an MVP-level impact, Milwaukee just needs to keep the floor spaced and a co-star alongside him and they will be a threat in the NBA playoffs.
When the stakes get the highest, Antetokounmpo is able to dig in and make a massive impact and dominate his opposition.
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