(Editor’s note: Welcome back to The Athletic NBA 75. We’re re-running our top 40 players to count down every day from Sept. 8-Oct. 17, the day before the opening of the 2022-23 NBA season. This piece was first published on Jan. 18, 2022.)
Giannis Antetokounmpo could not believe it.
Following the Bucks’ 103-96 loss to the Raptors on Saturday, he was handed The Athletic’s list of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time. After seeing his bolded and circled name, he looked through the other names and the players ranked ahead and behind him.
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“They got me at 24?” Antetokounmpo asked. “I’m 24? Pfffffffffffffffffffff.”
Antetokounmpo walked to the hallway with the list in his hand.
“Ahhhhhhhhh,” Antetokounmpo exclaimed. “You’re playing with me?”
While Antetokounmpo is the youngest player on The Athletic’s list, his placement on the list is no mistake.
In his first eight NBA seasons, Antetokounmpo has appeared in five NBA All-Star Games. He’s made five All-NBA teams, four All-Defensive teams and an All-Rookie team. He won the 2016-17 Most Improved Player award and the 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year award. He won NBA MVPs in 2019 and 2020 and then he won 2021 NBA Finals MVP as he secured his first championship ring in July, the Bucks’ first NBA championship since 1971. With his Finals MVP, Antetokounmpo became the eighth player in NBA history to win multiple regular-season MVPs and a Finals MVP in his career. And he did all of that before turning 27 last month.
With the list in his hand, Antetokounmpo made his way to partner, Mariah Riddlesprigger, who was watching over the couple’s two sons while waiting for Antetokounmpo to finish his postgame media session.
“Look at this. They have me 24 of all time,” Antetokounmpo said while showing Riddlesprigger his place on the list.
“Don’t talk to me,” Antetokounmpo said, pushing the air in front of him away to gesture he needed space as he walked away from our conversation with a big smile on his face. “You guys can’t talk to me no more!”
Eventually, Antetokounmpo’s genuine surprise and joy subsided, and he talked with The Athletic about his place in NBA history. With such a long list of accomplishments in eight NBA seasons, it’s difficult to imagine just how high he might climb if he plays for another decade. At the mere mention of another decade of basketball though, Antetokounmpo interjected.
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“No, I want to play 20 years,” Antetokounmpo said, repeating one of his goals. “Hopefully, I can play all 20 of those years with the Bucks.
“But we’ll see, I can’t predict the future, but that (pointing to the list), that’s a compliment. Being (No.) 24 and I just turned 27. That’s all my hard work that has paid off. But I gotta — we just lost — I gotta keep going. I gotta keep improving as a player. I gotta keep enjoying the game. Gotta stay in the moment, live in the moment and where it’s going to end up when I’m done with it and I’m done with the league and out of the league, who knows.
“That’s a compliment. I can take that right there and talk about it, show it to my kids.”
Antetokounmpo refuses to dwell on his placement on The Athletic’s list though.
“At the end of the day, all those compliments, I gotta put them on the side, and you gotta keep on working, because those compliments slow you down,” Antetokounmpo said. “They grab you and hold you back. … ‘Oh. I’m top 24 of all time. I’m the big dog over here.’ That just slows you down. I don’t want to think about that. I want to think about what I can do better.
“There are so many distractions now. Like, you made top 75, you’re No. 24, you’re the Finals MVP, you’re the two-time MVP, or you’re that or this or this or that. … I’m tired of this shit … well, I’m not tired of it, how can I say this? I’m tired of the compliments. Like, OK, guys, I know, but I just want to hoop. I just want to play basketball. I just want to keep playing basketball and see where it’s going to take me. Enjoy the game, every single moment, and that’s what I’ve done my whole career. I’ve tried to play hard, and I’m going to keep playing hard. It took me that far, and hopefully, it takes me even farther.”
These comments were only the beginning of the conversation. To help explain how a skinny, unknown 18-year-old from Greece turned into one of the league’s all-time great players in just eight-plus seasons, Antetokounmpo took time to reflect on his journey. Slowly working through each year of his career, Antetokounmpo broke down things to give insight into how he has gotten to this point in his career. This is Antetokounmpo’s career, through his own eyes.
Antetokounmpo meets fans during an open practice in his rookie season in 2013. (Gary Dineen / NBAE via Getty Images)Few people have been privileged to be a part of high-level basketball conversations with Antetokounmpo. One of those is former Bucks television play-by-play announcer Jim Paschke, who conducted in-depth interviews with Antetokounmpo before each season, starting with his fifth.
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Those interviews were far from the start of Paschke’s relationship with Antetokounmpo. Paschke was one of the first to meet Antetokounmpo when he came to Milwaukee after being selected 15th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. A few weeks later, Antetokounmpo asked Paschke for players to study film on to better acclimate to the NBA game.
After picking up five DNPs in the first 14 games of his first season, Antetokounmpo — at the time a slender 6-foot-9, 190-pound forward — broke into head coach Larry Drew’s rotation and started 23 games in his rookie season for the Bucks. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 24.6 minutes per game in a high-energy, complementary role.
And while no one would question Antetokounmpo’s work ethic, Paschke told The Athletic he realized a change in Antetokounmpo in his second season.
“Let’s bridge Year 1 to Year 2, because I think it’s significant,” Paschke said. “His rookie season, maybe people were looking ahead to the possibility of a high draft pick in that next year, I don’t know. But then, of course, the changes came about. Jason Kidd came in his second season. When Kidd got there with Sean Sweeney, there was a different mindset … we’re not screwing around. This is serious business, and Giannis took to that right away.”
Paschke’s opinion resonated with Antetokounmpo.
“When I came to the league, I didn’t understand the business side of it,” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “I didn’t understand that I can be a bust. I didn’t understand that I could be traded at any time. It’s true; if I didn’t come in and play hard, I could be out of here. Like, you see a lot of top-five picks, top-10 picks, they don’t perform their first year, they get traded. So, I was just trying to have fun (in my first year).”
The new coaching staff in Milwaukee forced Antetokounmpo to prove everything.
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Year 2: ‘It’s business’
“J-Kidd, the new crew came, the new owners came,” Antetokounmpo said. “You could kind of feel it now, it’s business. It’s business, right? The first couple of games, I wasn’t starting. The No. 2 pick, JP (Jabari Parker), was starting. It was like, ‘Oh? OK. I gotta work for my position.’ When I came in and I made a mistake, I was benched. ‘Oh. They don’t love me like they loved me last year.’ Now I gotta work. I gotta prove to this guy that, ‘Yo, I can play, too. I can make the right plays.’ He wasn’t putting me in down the stretch. That hurt me the most. I don’t care about starting, I care about finishing the game. So, he wasn’t even trusting me that I could defend guys or I could make the right play down the stretch. He thought I was a liability.
“I gotta prove to this guy that I’m not a liability. Great. I proved it. I proved to this guy throughout the year that I’m not a liability. In the playoffs, I was starting. I was finishing games.”
After coming off the bench to start the season, Antetokounmpo started 71 games. He put together his first career 20-point game in the 14th game of the season on Nov. 12, 2014, against the Wizards and, as the season progressed, posted six more games with 20 or more points. He compiled 10 double-doubles after posting just two in his first season. After winning only 15 games in Antetokounmpo’s rookie season, the Bucks won 41 games and grabbed the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Antetokounmpo started every game in the Bucks’ first-round series against the No. 3-seeded Chicago Bulls, including a 25-point, 12-rebound performance in 51 minutes of an overtime loss in Game 3. After dropping the first three games in the series, the Bucks showed some fight and took two games off the heavily favored Bulls.
Year 3: ‘Now I’m making plays’
“Now,” Antetokounmpo said. “I gotta prove to these guys that like, ‘Yo, I’m here to stay. This is my team. I can make plays. I can finish down the stretch.’ And we had a lot of guys. We had Greg (Monroe). We had Khris (Middleton). We had Jabari. It was me. It was Michael Carter-Williams. Like, we had a bunch of people, Jerryd Bayless.
“Now J-Kidd can see something, ‘You can handle the ball. You can make passes.’ I don’t want to curse, but (nods to imply) ‘(F–k) yeah, Coach. I can make passes. I can find the open guy.’ Not as well as I do right now, but I can do it. Be the point guard. ‘Oh, OK. I wasn’t expecting that, but I’ll go with it if you trust me that much.’ I’d rather be trusted than not trusted, right? So now I’m making plays. I’m like, OK.”
Antetokounmpo boosted each of his per-game averages in the five major statistical categories and put up 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals in 35.3 minutes per game.
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As the season started to go south, Kidd began experimenting with his younger players more. First, he put Middleton in more pick-and-roll and playmaking situations. After about a month, Kidd handed Antetokounmpo the keys to the offense and let him play point guard. With the ball in his hands and the Bucks pushing the pace, Antetokounmpo put up his first career triple-double on Feb. 22, 2016 — Kobe Bryant’s final game in Milwaukee. Antetokumpo added four other triple-doubles in the final two months of the season as he played point guard.
Year 4: ‘I was all over the place’
“I signed the contract, the largest contract in Milwaukee history,” Antetokounmpo said. “Now I gotta prove to guys I’m not just going to take the money. … I gotta prove to these guys that I’m here. I’m going to compete.
“I felt like that year, I competed from the first minute to the last minute. Like, defensively, offensively, setting screens, rolling, like everything. I was all over the place. Got my first All-Star appearance, and my dad was able to be there.”
Antetokounmpo signed a four-year, $100 million extension in the offseason, and then he led the Bucks in all five statistical categories in the 2016-17 season, and the Bucks made it to the postseason. For the first time in Antetokounmpo’s career, he was selected to represent the Bucks in the All-Star Game and also was named Second-Team All-NBA, as well as Second-Team All-Defense.
The Bucks dropped their first-round playoff series to the Raptors, but Antetokounmpo was undeniably the top option, putting up big numbers (22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game).
Year 5: ‘I want to be the MVP’
“I was like, I want to be the MVP,” Antetokounmpo said, “I said it publicly. I said my goal is to be the MVP. My goal is to come on the court and be the guy defensively, offensively, make the right plays, be there every single night for this team. I pushed myself, you know. I wasn’t able to accomplish it.
“We went against Boston in the playoffs. We went to Game 7. The people that went to the NBA Finals were LeBron James, the Cavs, they went to Game 7 (against Boston). So I’m like, ‘We got something here.’ … And I’m sitting in Fresno (Riddlesprigger’s California hometown) thinking, ‘LeBron went to seven with them. We went to seven with them. We got something cooking here.’ ”
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The last season of the Kidd era saw Antetokounmpo push his game to new heights. For the first time, Antetokounmpo averaged a double-double per game (10.0 rebounds) and finished the season in the NBA’s top five in per-game scoring average (26.9 points). He was a part of everything the Bucks did on both sides of the ball, but with interim head coach Joe Prunty at the helm for the final half of the season, Antetokounmpo couldn’t get his first playoff series win.
Year 6: ‘You don’t want me to be great?’
“Now, I’m used to taking the ball, play a bunch of iso. Horns side, set the pick-and-roll, pop, just play iso. Coach Bud (Mike Budenholzer) came in, none of that shit. We don’t want that. You’re going to be OK. I want your teammates to be great. Personally, 23 at the time, I’m like, ‘You don’t want me to be great? You want my teammates to be great?’ No. No, no, no, no, no. Slow down here. I was almost insulted,” Antetokounmpo said, smiling. “Young, too. Immature.
“(We were the) best team in the league. Went to the playoffs. You know, I was very excited I went to the Eastern Conference finals. People see that as a failure; I was excited. We were one of the top four teams in the NBA. But one thing that I was pissed about, I felt my previous year — even though I won the MVP in 2019 — I felt my previous year, I was able to get my spots better and more. Because I felt like my Year 6, everybody was five out. Down the stretch, when things get tough, that shit doesn’t work. Like, being all five out, what the hell are we doing? You gotta get to the post. You gotta be able to get to the nail, to the free-throw line, make a shot, something.”
Antetokounmpo played the most efficient basketball of his career, scoring more, grabbing more rebounds and dishing out more assists despite playing four fewer minutes per game in Budenholzer’s first season. The Bucks won 60 games and dominated the regular season. At 24, Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists to become the third-youngest player in league history to win an NBA MVP.
The Bucks made the deepest playoff run of Antetokounmpo’s career, taking the first two games in the Eastern Conference finals. Then, the Raptors built a wall of defenders with Kawhi Leonard and Marc Gasol. Days after that series ended, Antetokounmpo vowed to The Athletic that he would be better next season and be prepared for that defensive strategy.
Year 7: ‘I knew what the deal was’
“I came in with a chip on my shoulder, I knew what the deal was,” Antetokounmpo said. “I knew that I had to build good habits. I had to get to spots. It was one of my best years I’ve ever had in my career, offensively and defensively. Finding my teammates.
“But I’ll say this, Coach Bud forced me to find my teammates. I give him that. Like, he forced me to, like, ‘No, you gotta make the right pass. No, you gotta make the right pass.’ I’d be like, ‘Coach, we’re down two. I’m just going to drive this guy or shoot a 3.’ Like, ‘No, make the right pass.’ OK, coach. Year 7. Ended with Miami. I don’t make excuses as an athlete, but it wasn’t a satisfying year for me because I felt like if it was a normal situation, it wouldn’t end up like that. But at the end of the day, I felt like Miami was built to be an NBA bubble team, you know?
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Only 12 players in the history of the NBA have won back-to-back NBA MVP awards, and Antetokounmpo became one of them in his seventh NBA season. He also took home the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in league history to win MVP and DPOY in the same season.
But those accolades didn’t matter. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to pause for four months, the NBA moved into a bubble outside of Orlando, Fla., and the top-seeded Bucks lost to the Heat in the second round before the biggest offseason of Antetokounmpo’s career.
Despite some drama, Antetokounmpo signed a $228 million supermax contract, the largest in NBA history, to stay out of free agency and remain in Milwaukee.
Year 8: ‘Guys, I’m over myself’
Thanasis and Giannis Antetokounmpo take a moment after the parade celebrating the Bucks’ 2020-21 NBA title. (David Dow / NBAE via Getty Images).“I’m over myself. I’m over myself. I know what the deal is. I’m over myself. I don’t care about that,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t like losing, but I know what the deal is. I know that the deal is. I build good habits, and when the big moments are there, I’m there. I’m present. I’m not scared to play the defense. I’m not scared to guard Jimmy Butler. I’m not scared to switch. Like I’m here. And I was way over myself.
“I remember the game in Utah, I had two points or zero points at the half. And everybody was like, ‘Be aggressive! Be aggressive!’ And I was like, ‘Be aggressive? Why would I be aggressive? Two guys double-teamed me. The right pass is right there. Just make the shot.’ And they were like, ‘No! We want you to be aggressive!’ I said OK. I came out in the second half. I was more aggressive. I had like 30 in the second half. We still lost the game, but that showed the team, ‘Guys, I’m over myself.'”
Antetokounmpo made it sound simple, but there was a lot to learn and execute in the biggest moments of the team’s postseason run. Antetokounmpo’s numbers were once again gaudy, and he made his fifth All-NBA team, but there was little discussion about him winning a potential third straight MVP. He needed to prove it in the postseason — and that is exactly what he did.
He guarded Butler and led the Bucks to a sweep over the Heat. He went toe to toe with the Nets and got to his spot for a hook shot to seal the Bucks’ Game 7 win in overtime in Brooklyn. He returned from a devastating injury in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals to play in Game 1 of his first NBA Finals. Then, he became the seventh NBA player to score 50 points in an NBA Finals game with a 50-point, 14-rebound performance in Game 6 to close out the Phoenix Suns and seal the championship. Antetokounmpo scored 211 points in the six-game series. Only Michael Jordan (twice), Rick Barry, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James have scored more points in a six-game NBA Finals.
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And while the 50-point Game 6 is one of the greatest NBA Finals performances ever, Paschke believed Antetokounmpo had closed out the series in Game 5.
“The NBA Finals, in my opinion, ended in Game 5 when (Jrue) Holiday stole the ball and Giannis pointed at the rim,” Paschke told The Athletic. “Listen, that’s Giannis with blinders on. Giannis, he feels the dagger in his hand and he points to the rim. Because Holiday was going to dribble the clock like you normally would and be smart about it, and Giannis just said, ‘You know, I’m gonna crush these people right now.’ It was over right there.
“The mental aspect of the game is starting to come much more often and certainly much more fluidly and easily to him. And that’s a product of his time in the league and the way he goes about his business every day. It’s the difference between a champion and a great player, because there are a lot of great players that didn’t win championships.”
And now it is Year 9.
Through eight seasons, Antetokounmpo has accomplished more than most players in NBA history. With a championship last season, he earned his spot among the all-time greats, but he is still working for more, even if he thought the season of his first title defense would feel different than other seasons.
“I thought we were going to win a championship, and it was going to be like a fairytale and it’s done and we’re all going to be enjoying it,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’re going to be partying for 15 years straight, but you win one and you’re like, ‘What’s next?'”
There is no parade down Wisconsin Avenue in January. The confetti that littered the roads during the July 2021 celebration is gone, replaced by salt to keep snow off the streets. In Year 9, Antetokounmpo is back to work and is reminded of something he heard this past offseason.
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“I don’t know if you know this guy, but I was talking to this big-time point guard in Greece, Theo Papaloukas, (who) played for the national team, CSKA Moscow, Olympiakos,” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “He told me, ‘Giannis, this is never going to stop.’ I said, ‘What do you mean this is never going to stop?’
“He said, ‘Every time you win something or you accomplish something, you’re going to say, ‘What’s next?’ Because that’s how human beings are built.’ And I came back and I was like, ‘Damn, this is fucking insane, I’m already thinking about what’s next.’
The trophy case is full, but Antetokounmpo is not done. As he tells it, he’s not even halfway done with his career.
“I’m blessed,” Antetokounmpo said. “Even if I never win again, I’m extremely blessed … and then they’ll come and pass me, the young kids. But who knows. We’ll see. But every time, no matter what happens, I’m always like, ‘Next.’ ‘Next.’ ‘Next.’ ”
Career stats#: G: 626, Pts.: 21.4, Reb.: 9.2, Ast.: 4.6., FG%: 53.2, FT%: 71.7, Win Shares: 81.6, PER: 24.1
#Through Jan. 18, 2022
The Athletic NBA 75 Panel points: 692 | Hollinger GOAT Points: 196.4
Achievements: NBA MVP (’19, ’20), Five-time All-NBA, Five-time All-Star, Most Improved (’17), Defensive Player of the Year (’20), NBA champ (’21), Finals MVP (’21) NBA 75th Anniversary team (’21)
(Illustration: Wes McCabe / The Athletic; Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
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