Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo will be historically rested for an MVP

Giannis Antetokounmpo will be historically rested for an MVP: The cons

According to ESPN, Giannis ranks 77th in the NBA in terms of minutes per game, which puts him right around the same marks as Malcolm Brogdon and Hassan Whiteside. This obviously will not be the case once playoffs start, where he will ideally see his minute count bump into the high-30s and maybe even low 40s at times (something fans have rarely seen at all this year).

Giannis has only played over 36 minutes five times this season, and most of those games were during 2019, not 2020. This was a very similar story in the 2018-19 season, when Giannis didn’t start consistently hitting high minute counts until deep into the playoffs. It was relatively smooth sailing that time around (despite him getting caught in foul trouble at times) but he didn’t have to account for a four-month break like he has to this time around.

When you combine that COVID-induced break (one that has already preceded serious injuries from the likes of Jonathon Isaac, Ben Simmons and Jaren Jackson Jr. — all physical players like Giannis) and the fact he hasn’t seen anything close to a playoff workload in more than a year; there might be room for concern. Is Giannis actually ready for an exponential increase in minutes?

Being rested is one thing (such as being the most rested MVP of all-time), but being able to confidently pace that rested body is another thing. Anyone who’s gone through an off-season understands this; no matter how much time one spends in the gym, getting into 40 minutes per game shape takes plenty of actual in-game reps. Here’s where some of the concerns about Giannis’ restrictions begin to take form.

One must ask, even for a freak of nature, if a few scrimmage games and eight actual games are enough for Giannis to get into playoff shape. Especially if he will be asked to play 40 minutes a game and especially if he hasn’t seen that kind of workload in over a year. Can he keep up that earlier-mentioned, and oh-so important, physicality over an extended postseason stretch?

Giannis’ low minutes, added to the the recent layoff certainly add question marks to that. Only time will be able to provide definitive answers too.

Perhaps having the most rested MVP of all-time will be the coup de grâce to the Bucks bringing an NBA championship home to Milwaukee. Luckily, by the looks of it so far, Giannis seems to be functioning very well in Walt Disney World.

What’s certain is that the Bucks will be much better if they can get 40 minutes of Giannis rather than 30 minutes of Giannis. Whether or not he’s best prepared for that is only one piece to the puzzle. Hopefully the Bucks’ strategy with their best player will pay off, and ultimately lead them to an easier path to a title.