The Athletic Names Antetokounmpo The 24th Best NBA Player Of All-Time

As a way of honoring the special 75-year anniversary, staff writers at The Athletic have compiled a list for the 75 greatest players in NBA history. Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, at just 27 years of age, was named No. 24 on the all-time list.

Well before his 27th birthday (Dec. 6), Antetokounmpo had already pieced together a Hall of Fame-like resume: Two league MVPs, an NBA Championship (2021), NBA Finals MVP, five All-Star selections, a trio of NBA All-Defensive First Team honors and three all-NBA First team nods.

Giannis averaged at over 26 points per game in four straight seasons from 2017-18 to 2020-21 (he averaged 28.5 PPG through the first 37 games of 2021-22). Simply put, he’s been the NBA’s best player over the past three years.

If he retired today, Antetokounmpo would be a lock for the Basketball Hall of Fame. But more MVP awards and records surely await, and he certainly has Milwaukee in good position to contend for many more titles over the long run.

The major sportsbooks list the Bucks as one of the prime favorites to win the 2021-22 NBA Championship.

Regarding the DraftKings vs FanDuel odds, DK has Milwaukee in a tie with the Phoenix Suns for the third-best odds behind the Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors.

FD gives Milwaukee the third best odds behind only the Nets and Dubs.

Paul Pierce Calls Antetokounmpo The Best Player In The League

NBA legends and former Boston Celtics and Nets teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett debated the best player in the league during a recent episode of SHOWTIME's KG Certified (h/t Fadeaway World).

While Garnett thinks that Nets star Kevin Durant holds the title as the league’s best player, Pierce believes Antetokounmpo is the top player right now.

"I feel like Giannis is the most unstoppable player in the league,” Pierce explained. “This is not a knock against (Joel) Embiid, Bron (LeBron James), Durant, but I just feel like the way he plays the game, he just goes and automatically gets you 25 every night. There's no way of stopping him. He goes down the lane and dunks, he's physical...Think of this: when he has when he got 25/6/11, that's a light night for him. Think about that."

Last year, the Bucks narrowly outlasted a banged-up Brooklyn team in a thrilling seven-game series in the second round of the playoffs.

Milwaukee narrowly held on for a 115-111 overtime win in Game 7 to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. They’d go on to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks before defeating the Suns to claim the NBA Championship.

If things go accordingly for both clubs, they’ll be meeting in the postseason many times over the next few years.

Bucks’ Second Half Predictions

If the playoffs started today, the Bucks, Nets, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers would round out the top six seeds in the Eastern Conference, thus avoiding the play-in tournament.

Those six teams have established themselves from the rest of the field in the East, and the top seed is still up for grabs.

But with all due respect to the Bulls and Cavaliers, some form of regression feels inevitable down the stretch. The lack of postseason experience from the core players on both sides is also a cause for concern.

The way-too-early guess here is that Milwaukee will get hot in the second half and finish with the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Durant is sidelined several weeks with a knee injury, and Kyrie Irving (who’s unvaccinated) can only play road games because of New York state mandates.

If the Nets have their three core players healthy for the postseason, they’ll be the team to beat in the East. Not having Irving for the final three games of the series against Milwaukee certainly hurt, and James Harden wasn’t 100 percent.

Milwaukee will be the top seed entering the postseason, but the deeper and more slightly more talented Nets will get their comeuppance by dethroning the defending champions in the Eastern Conference Finals.

As opposed to a sequel of the dramatic seven-game series, Brooklyn will manage to finish the job in six games. The Bucks’ bid to reach dynasty status will be on hold for at least another year.