OK, Giannis Antetokounmpo probably doesn’t have the hype to put his foot in the four-person NBA MVP race at this point. But he’s putting up a compelling case for the fifth spot on the ballot.
For one, the Bucks are hot. They’ve won 11 of their past 13 games and look like a much more well-rounded team now that Khris Middleton is healthy. They have the inside track on the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and a chance to face either the Wizards or Raptors in the first round.
Most of that credit belongs to “The Greek Freak.” The obscenely long point-forward is putting up a historic season and has become the Bucks’ best player on both ends. And those numbers …
USA TODAY Sports photo illustration
The context behind those numbers (23.1, 8.5, 5.4 and 52.5, to be exact) is what makes them so alarming. Only eight players in NBA history have ever averaged 23, 8 and 5 on 50% shooting from the field. This is that list, in chronological order:
- Oscar Robertson in 1962-63
- Wilt Chamberlain (four times)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice)
- Larry Bird (four times)
- Michael Jordan in 1988-89
- Charles Barkley in 1992-93
- LeBron James in 2012-13 (and also this season)
- Kevin Durant in 2015-16
Yes, that’s a list of eight of the 20 best players in NBA history (assuming Durant has a full career). Yet Antetokounmpo really only needs to keep his 23.1 points per game average up to join them. And if he slips into the 22 range, well, that adds only one player on the 22-8-5-50% list — Kevin Garnett, twice.
Oh, there’s another catch.
Antetokoumpo, 22, is the youngest player ever to put up this kind of line. Robertson was 24 and Jordan and Bird were 25. That means that Antetokoumpo would be the first player in his pre-prime years to put up a 22-8-5-50% line, though it’s worth noting that players generally enter the NBA and peak earlier now.
There’s been so much talk about the amazing “unicorn” big men who hold the keys to the NBA’s future. But the best player under 23 is a 7-foot small forward who runs point for one of the NBA’s most exciting young teams. The MVP will have to wait. He’s got plenty of time.
