No other two-time MVP has had to face the level of scrutiny that Giannis Antetokounmpo has thus far in his career. Popular narratives surrounding the Greek Freak in mainstream media have since gone sour, focusing on his unflattering history of playoff performances or his lack of shooting.
Even before they became the top names for an MVP selection, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic have always, for better or worse, been compared to one another.
Here’s an objective truth readers may not want to hear: Zach LaVine, Aaron Gordon, and arguably even Bradley Beal are not better at basketball than Khris Middleton. Not only is the smooth-shooting swingman a legitimate second option on a winning team, but he also deserves a third All-Star selection.
Rockets management made it clear very early on they want a franchise cornerstone, youth, or picks return in exchange for the former MVP. That direction doesn’t seem like it’s about to change moving forward.
The future of Knicks power forward Julius Randle is one storyline that has gone relatively under the radar so far in the 2020-21 NBA season.
The Toronto Raptors, an NBA championship-winning team just two years ago and one of the league’s top teams the year before, now hold the 14th seed in the Eastern Conference and a 3-8 win-loss record.
It might not be looking good for John Collins and the Atlanta Hawks. A Collins trade has become much more likely in recent days.
To say it’s been a wild NBA season so far would be an understatement. After having just a little over two months to prepare, the first few games naturally didn’t go as planned for most teams, as the standings show.
But Westbrook, with his consistent overall production on both ends of the floor has shown that his impact on games transcends mere scoring, even though it hasn’t led to much playoff success either. All-time, he may come out the better point guard, but only by the smallest of margins.
And whether a case of recency bias or agenda-setting on the part of the media, Portland guard Damian Lillard sparked not only comparisons between himself and Curry, but also conversations that he may have surpassed the three-time champion after his spirited playoff performances in the NBA bubble—a debate that has endured to this day.
This year’s NBA Christmas Day games are no different, featuring an exciting cast of young up-and-coming players with everything to prove matched up against league veterans.
A cursory glance at NBA social media betrays popular sentiment surrounding the Milwaukee Bucks: that they are destined to fall apart postseason after postseason due in part to head coach Mike Budenholzer’s inability to adjust his schemes and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s limited offensive package—both valid assessments the team has done little to prove wrong.
Kyle Kuzma was among the more polarizing players in the NBA the year he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers at #27 in 2017. In hindsight, it’s strange to remember that there were those who genuinely believed he would turn out to be a better player than Jayson Tatum, who has since blossomed into a full-blown superstar for LA rivals the Boston Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s looming free agency decision has been the most sought-after storyline of this NBA offseason, spawning an almost-religious fervor among fans that could rival that of LeBron’s “The Decision.”
Putting to rest rumors of a possible move to South Beach, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo jolted the NBA world when he announced on Twitter that he signed his 5-year supermax extension with the Bucks, the largest deal in league history, after weeks upon weeks of sitting on it.
