The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #8: Is Giannis an All-Star Lock?
By Tim Wray
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s start to the season has been nothing short of exceptional. Could the Greek Freak be considered an All-Star lock, and does he deserve to be a starter?
Tom Pheister (@BucksPhanTom): If NBA Twitter is any indication (and if it isn’t it should be) Giannis is absolutely a lock for the All-Star Game. Not only should he be there, but he should be starting. Whether enough of the public at large has caught on to just how incredible Giannis is will be the question. Once he makes it for the first time, I expect he will be a fixture for at least a decade thanks to his athletic gifts, skills and likability.
Ti Windisch (@TiWindisch): It’s hard to say he’s a lock, because the All-Star team tends to be a club made up of former All-Stars. Still, new talent breaks in every once in a while, and the NBA is taking notice of how damn good Giannis has been. I think he should be a starter for sure–we’ll see if that ends up happening or not, though.
Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11): He’s a lock. Unless he gets injured, I just can’t see a way he doesn’t make it. I’m growing more and more confident that fans of the wider NBA are recognizing just how good Giannis is; it helps that Vine hasn’t shut down just yet. Even if that doesn’t prove enough for him to crack a (deserved) starting spot just yet, you only have to listen to the way in which coaches around the league talk about him to feel pretty confident that he’ll be a reserve at least.
Jordan Treske (@JordanTreske): I certainly think he can be considered a lock and although I don’t like framing it this way personally, the argument can be made if he deserves to be a starter. Like Adam said, I think he’s certainly got an increased awareness in people’s minds through the help of Vine, but now we’re seeing that he’s morphed into this high impact-difference maker on both ends of the floor, which has led to the recognition he’s practically getting on a daily basis (and rightfully so).
As Ti mentioned, I do think how the fan vote is often treated could be a bigger issue than all of us are letting on and I think we’ll get a clearer sense of that when we go through the stages of voting. But no matter the way he’d potentially get into the game, it’s looking more likely than it arguably ever has that the team’s All-Star-less streak is coming to an end.
Lukas Harkins (@HardwiredSports): I think there’s a lot of time left before calling anyone a “lock,” especially for a first-time player in the All-Star Game, but I also think Giannis is very close. He has been absolutely outstanding for the team so far and there are no signs of slowing down. As for being a starter, I think he belongs with that group as well.
Tim Wray (@TRW24): Punch Giannis’ 2016-17 numbers into Basketball Reference: 22.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game.
Your query returned ONE result. That’s right, no player in NBA history has done what he is doing this season. If that doesn’t make him a lock for the All-Star game, not to mention his ridiculous 26.5 Player Efficiency Rating or how much better he makes the Bucks with a 13.3 Net Rating, I don’t know what does.
For me, there’s almost no question that he deserves to be an All-Star starter based solely on the merit of being one of the five best players in the Eastern Conference so far this season. However, as Ti said, fan voting can be very temperamental and it seems likely that guys such as Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade are just too popular in big markets not to be voted in year after year, regardless of their level of play.
Can the last few months of outrageous euro-step dunks captured on Vine (RIP) get Giannis over the line?
When All-Star voting begins, don’t forget to spam your Twitter followers with: “Giannis Antetokounmpo #NBAVOTE”