FanSided 250: Was Giannis Antetokounmpo ranked high enough?

Giannis  Antetokounmpo took his place among the elite in the recently revealed FanSided 250, but should he have been ranked even higher?

As many of you may have already noticed, in recent days, our good friends over at the FanSided mothership published their immensely entertaining annual rankings of fandoms across sport and pop culture.

Now in its third year, the FanSided 250 spans sports, movies, music, and celebrity in an attempt to gauge the most buzz-worthy and popular fandoms from the previous 12 months.

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Given how the Milwaukee Bucks have performed during that timeframe, it shouldn’t really be any major surprise that this year’s edition of the list included something for Bucks fans to get excited about.

Not only did the team’s fandom as a whole make this year’s cut (coming in at No. 104, and ninth among pro basketball teams), but fans of Milwaukee’s superstar player also ranked prominently in the upper echelons of the FanSided 250 list.

Giannis Antetokounmpo slotting in at No. 27, and seventh among all sports figures speaks to the colossal rise in the 25-year-old’s profile over the past year. Between winning a first MVP award, making a deep playoff run, and launching his first signature shoe, Antetokounmpo has had a juggernaut 12 months since not even cracking the top 250 of the 2018 version of the list.

With Giannis ranking ahead of Lionel Messi, and just behind Tiger Woods in terms of sports stars, there can be no debating that he finds himself in truly elite, all-time company. Having said that, given one other inclusion above Giannis on the list, I believe there’s a really strong case that the Bucks’ cornerstone should be ranked even higher.

FanSided 250

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The top ranked NBA player on the list, and the second highest ranked athlete overall, has yet to even play a second of action as a professional in the league. Considering so much of the list is dictated by buzz over the past 12 months, Zion Williamson‘s standing isn’t entirely inexplicable.

Williamson is a freak athlete with tremendous ability, and entered this summer’s draft widely-tipped as one of the most obvious true game-changers to have come into the NBA in a long, long time.

Still, Williamson’s year has also been filled with relative negatives, from his unfortunate shoe blowout with Duke, to the meniscus injury that has kept him on the sidelines with the Pelicans, and significant questions about how his body will hold up in the long-term. As noted in the FanSided 250 write-up, Williamson’s jersey sales may have broken the rookie record in the NBA, but that doesn’t come close to the impact Antetokounmpo has and the devotion he clearly sparks in his fans.

Over the past 12 months, Antetokounmpo was voted as an All-Star team captain for the first time by the fans, had the largest initial signature shoe launch in Nike Basketball history, and was greeted with roars and gasps every time he touched the ball in front of adoring Chinese fans at the FIBA World Cup.

Giannis is the first international player to have a Nike signature shoe, and that speaks to what sets his fandom apart from so many of his peers. With proud Greek and Nigerian roots, Antetokounmpo resonates in both Europe and Africa, his on-court exploits have made him a household name in North America, while also creating buzz that’s been proven to stretch as far as Asia.

On top of his international appeal, Antetokounmpo has an entire city that happily bows down to him, as he’s greeted with nothing but respect and adulation everywhere he goes in Milwaukee. Giannis has not only earned that with his play, but with how he carries himself as a human being.

https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1202418341639573505

Not only is Antetokounmpo probably the best player in the NBA, but he may be the most likeable too.

If Giannis isn’t the top ranked athlete on the FanSided 250 come December 2020, I’ll be completely shocked.