Absolutely insane numbers by Giannis over the last 3 odd weeks. He and dame are really starting to click, even though it doesn’t always look like it on the floor. The game will just end and you’ll see they combined for like 60/17/17.
I don’t know what it is about Giannis but his stats just sneak up on you. Maybe it’s because he gets most of his points at the rim.
But atleast a dozen times I’ve been watching him live and thought to myself that he’s having a pretty quiet game. And then looked up to the scoreboard and realized he was on pace for a 50pt game.
Everyday Embiid numbers
Nobody cares but Giannis has been playing the best ball of his career the last 3 weeks.
Giannis is a fantastic player and he currently looks like he’s going to go down as the 2nd greatest PF of all time with a very very outside shot (the second half of his career would have to go significantly better than the first) of taking the number 1 PF crown from Duncan.
Dude, he’s already the 2nd best PF of all time. He has more MVPs than KG and Dirk, the FMVP KG doesn’t have, the DPOY Dirk doesn’t have, more 1st Team All NBAs than both, and he scores more than either ever did. All they have on him is years in the league
He isn’t yet. KG and Dirk were playing at an elite level for longer than Giannis has even been in the league at this point. He scores more than KG but KG was a significantly better defensive player than Giannis ever was and the scoring gap isn’t really that far between either KG/Dirk and Giannis when you account for pace. Further, KG and Dirk happened to play in the same era as Tim Duncan who would have also reduced the amount of 1st team All NBA’s that Giannis has.
Years in the league are important when discussing all time ranking. Giannis peaked higher than Dirk ever did but him and KG had similar peaks and KG did it for far longer so far. We can’t assume Giannis is going to have x more elite years that he hasn’t actually had yet. Giannis will, very likely, surpass both KG and Dirk (there’s a very very strong argument that he has already passed Dirk) and has an outside shot at TD but he hasn’t yet.
Lastly, everyone knew KG was the best player on the 2008 Celtics. Pierce may have won FMVP but Garnett is the primary reason they were the champions that year.
Look at the team’s individual TS% numbers. Very nice.