Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like the league’s MVP. But here’s the other reason the Milwaukee Bucks’ star is the future of basketball.
Fifteen seconds is all it took to understand why Giannis Antetokounmpo is unlike any NBA player who came before him.
Here’s what the Milwaukee Bucks’ star did in those 15 seconds at the end of the fourth quarter on Saturday night. He poked the ball away from a shooting guard. He caught an outlet pass as he crossed halfcourt and required exactly one dribble before he dunked as three defenders tried to catch him. And then he stuffed a 7-footer who had the bold idea to believe he could dunk over him.
There are lots of crazy things about this player who is now known more for being a freak than Greek. Antetokounmpo is 6-foot-11 and often looks about six feet taller. He’s averaging 36.8 points and still hasn’t shot well. He is somehow only 22 years old.
.. There is no position in all of sports that has changed more in such a short amount of time as the big man in basketball. Bigs are the most interesting young players in the NBA. And what makes them interesting is they no longer play big.
.. Being tall isn’t enough to play in today’s NBA. The game’s tallest players now must be able to go small, too.
.. NBA teams have enough data to understand that centers backing down their defenders is less efficient than other plays even for the biggest of big men, which is why post-ups were down 21% last season from 2013, according to Stats LLC.
.. the shadow of the Golden State Warriors. The seemingly unstoppable team’s most unstoppable lineup has Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. It does not have a traditional center. And its competition has downsized to keep up.
.. NBA teams have decided they can’t afford to play an immobile big man because the league’s best teams will isolate and roast him on the perimeter every possession. That’s why the modern big man is someone who can do everything: play in the post and the perimeter on offense, protect the rim and the 3-point line on defense.
.. “You’re watching the big men evolve,” Fizdale said. “I see us in the middle of the evolution, and I don’t see when it’s going to switch back to the old days.”
.. It already feels obsolete to call these players unicorns because they’re an increasingly common species. They have combined their size with skill in a way that makes NBA executives wonder if it’s possible to play adequate defense against them.
.. now they have 6-foot-10 rookie point guard Ben Simmons
.. one person who recently declared that Antetokounmpo could become “the best player to ever play.”
How Kevin Durant Made the Biggest Move in NBA Free Agency—Again
It was obvious that Durant was staying with the Golden State Warriors after winning his first title and being named the MVP of the Finals. It was also known that he would take less than his maximum salary to make it easier for the Warriors to keep their other important players. But how much he left on the table was the stunning twist.
Durant’s salary next season will be $9.5 million less than what it could’ve been, $6.8 million less than necessary and about $1.5 million less than what he earned last season.
His willingness to accept only $25 million helped Golden State’s owners save about that much in luxury tax, but it also helped the Warriors re-sign Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, and that means it helped Durant. This was essentially a happiness tax. The chance to win more titles was worth the price of losing millions of dollars.
.. star players can play together only when some of them settle for less money than they could be making.
.. in 2014 couldn’t have existed without their own salary-cap jiu-jitsu. Kobe Bryant alone earned more that year than Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginóbili combined
.. For the last three years, Curry has been the most underpaid player in professional sports, the reward for Golden State taking a risk on his bum ankles five years ago.
.. But the days of Curry’s discount are over. He agreed to the richest contract in NBA history last week, and there was no way Golden State could’ve kept its championship team fully intact without someone else taking a hit. Durant became the someone else.
.. the biggest splash of this NBA off-season wasn’t any player signing with a new team for more money. It was one player staying with the league’s best team for less money.