Giannis Antetokounmpo: Ranking the NBA’s best international players ever
By Adam McGee
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon‘s ability to dominate a game on both ends set him apart even from some of the very best players to suit up in the NBA.
With the possibility of Antetokounmpo finishing this season as both the MVP and the Defensive Player of the Year, he faces the prospects of joining Michael Jordan and Olajuwon as the only players in NBA history to achieve that feat in the same season.
With Olajuwon also winning NBA championships and being Finals MVP in 1994 and 1995, the peak of his career hit a greater height on all levels than he even likely gets credit for a quarter of century later, but the sum total of his career wasn’t just about those two seasons either.
Olajuwon finished his career as a 12-time All-Star, who also made 12 All-NBA teams, nine All-Defensive teams, in addition to leading the league in blocks on three occasions and in rebounds twice.
There’s certainly something to Olajuwon’s dominance that’s easy to identify in what Antetokounmpo is and what he can still become in the years ahead. Whether he can add championships to support his individual achievements is the big question, though.