Top 50 NBA players from last 50 years: Antetokounmpo ranks No. 14

Editor’s Note: As part of a new series for his podcast, “What’s Wright with Nick Wright,” FOX Sports commentator Nick Wright is ranking the 50 best NBA players of the last 50 years. The countdown continues today with player No. 14 Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s career highlights:

• 2021 Finals MVP
• Two-time league MVP
• Six-time All-Star
• Four-time first-team All-NBA, two-time second team
• 2020 Defensive Player of the Year
• Four-time All-Defensive first team, one-time second team
• 2017 Most Improved Player
• 2014 All-Rookie team

Debate rages endlessly sometimes over who is the best player in basketball. This isn’t one of those times.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is the clear choice for the mythical crown, and he probably has been for the better part of four years now. His reign might not end anytime soon, either. 

The “Greek Freak” is just 27 years old, so the bigger question surrounding him is how high he climbs the all-time ladder. 

“[He] is a guy who has a legitimate chance of finishing his career in the top five, if we were to do this list in 10 years,” Wright said. “If Khris Middleton doesn’t get hurt and they win the title this year, maybe he’s already [in] the top 10.”

Giannis Antetokounmpo is No. 14 on Nick Wright’s Top 50 NBA Players of the Last 50 Years

Widely regarded as the best player in the world right now, the “Greek Freak” is unlike any other player the league has ever seen. The Bucks’ superstar uses both his length and strength to dominate in the low post and get high percentage shots at will. The only thing left on Antetokounmpo’s list is to develop an outside shot.

Such hypotheticals are merited when you’ve collected as much hardware as anyone through your mid-20s. Antetokounmpo is one of three players in history (and the youngest) to garner MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors, along with Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Antetokounmpo already has four first-team All-NBA selections (matching Dirk Nowitzki) and four All-Defensive ones (matching Dwight Howard). 

Just a dozen players from the past 50 years have four of each. 

Antetokounmpo has averaged at least 26 points and 10 rebounds in five consecutive seasons. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone pulled that off over the past half-century. Olajuwon had four such campaigns. Tim Duncan didn’t have any. 

Where Antetokounmpo further distinguishes himself is with his playmaking. The 6-foot-11 unicorn has been recording nearly six assists per game the past six years, making his positionless act the biggest advantage in the game and historically unprecedented. 

“He is a selfless teammate, an absolute ironman, the best defender in basketball, the most dominant scorer in basketball, the best player in basketball,” Wright said. “I think he should have more than two regular-season MVPs.” 

At this point, Antetokounmpo’s legacy will be defined by how much he wins. He has already bucked the odds by turning Milwaukee into a contender from scratch. Antetokounmpo entered the league straight from Greece as a raw 19-year-old, joining a franchise that hadn’t produced an All-Star in a decade. It would take six seasons before the undermanned Bucks would get out of the first round, despite their young star’s routinely eclipsing his regular-season averages in the postseason. 

“Giannis’ regular-season résumé is unbelievable,” Wright said. “Somehow, his postseason résumé might be better.”

The Bucks looked poised to make the Finals in 2019 amid a torrid run from Antetokounmpo, only to see an even hotter Kawhi Leonard rally the Raptors from a 2-0 deficit in the conference finals. In 2020, Antetokounmpo repeated as MVP (and broke Wilt Chamberlain’s single-season player efficiency record in the process) while Milwaukee again earned the East’s top seed. After averaging 31-16-6 in the opening round of the NBA Bubble, Antetokounmpo suffered an ankle injury midway through a second-round loss to the Heat. 

The playoff disappointment had begun to stack up but would soon be forgiven and forgotten. The No. 3 seed Bucks were a bit of an afterthought heading into the 2021 postseason, given the firepower Brooklyn boasted with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. The two teams would square off in the conference semifinals, with Giannis and KD trading haymakers in a series for the ages. This time, it was Antetokounmpo leading an epic comeback. With Milwaukee trailing 2-0, he averaged 34 and 14 over the final five games. His 40 points and 13 rebounds — and KD’s size 18 shoes — were just enough for the Bucks to outlast the Nets in overtime of Game 7.

Giannis was cruising through the conference finals when he hyperextended his knee, which initially appeared to end his season. He’d return a week later, however, and drop 20 and 17 in his Finals debut. It was by far his worst performance of the series. He’d post consecutive 40-point double-doubles, deftly defend both parts of an alley-oop with Game 4 in the balance, seal Game 5 with an alley-oop of his own, and explode for 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in a narrow Game 6 win to finish off the Suns. 

“If you want to say it’s the greatest Finals game ever played, it’s certainly on the very short list,” Wright said. 

The same could be said about Giannis’ entire playoff run, as well as his performance in the Finals. He averaged 35-13-5 with three blocks while shooting 62% versus Phoenix, all while leading the Bucks back from a 2-0 deficit. His stat line for the 2021 postseason: 30-13-5.

“Quite simply one of the greatest playoff runs any player has ever had in any sport ever,” Wright said. “I don’t think it’s the greatest Finals ever. But if you say it, I don’t think you’re crazy.”

Antetokounmpo followed that with another MVP-caliber campaign and more iconic playoff performances, but the Bucks’ repeat bid was derailed by a Middleton knee injury. Without his lone All-Star sidekick, Antetokounmpo averaged 34-15-7 over a seven-game series loss to the Celtics in the conference semis. 

For his postseason career, he has been good for 27-12-5 per game. No other player has averaged 12 rebounds and five assists, much less combined it with one of the highest scoring averages of all time.

Those rates are temporary, of course. Antetokounmpo is only getting better. 

“I don’t think he needs a 3-point shot. I think if he can just get a bit of a midrange shot and a bit of a baby hook, he becomes totally unguardable. As is, he’s pretty damn unguardable,” Wright said. “I think he’s going to get in the [G.O.A.T.] conversation.”