Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of, if not the best two-way players in the entire NBA, after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Championship last year and collecting a Finals MVP, there is no doubt the next step for Giannis is to repeat that feat.
Evaluating Giannis Antetokounmpo’s performance with the Milwaukee Bucks at the 2022 All-Star break
Let’s look at offense first, Antetokounmpo heading into the stretch run and postseason push is currently second in the NBA in scoring, at 29.4 points per game. He trails only Joel Embiid, one of his main competitors for the MVP award. Per NBA.com/stats, Antetokounmpo is currently seventh in rebounds, averaging 11.2 per game. Giannis also sits 19th in assists at six per game, just one place and .3 per game behind Stephen Curry. I think it gets lost on some how good of a passer Antetokounmpo really is. Antetokounmpo is top 20 in all of those categories despite being just 51st in minutes per game.
Antetokounmpo’s efficiency is absolutely off the charts, as he already holds the NBA All-time player efficiency record from the 2019-20 season and now both he and Nikola Jokic are on pace to break that all time record, according to Basketball-Reference.
Player efficiency rating is calculated by adding a player’s points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, subtracting missed field goals, missed free throws, and turnovers, then dividing by the number of games played. Giannis’ record-breaking finish in 2019-20 was a player efficiency rating of 31.86. Giannis currently has a player efficiency rating of 32.30, narrowly behind Jokic at 32.57.
Just before the break Antetokounmpo also dropped the fourth 50 point game of his NBA career, his first 50 point game since Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals. His efficiency was on full display as he needed the fourth-fewest field goal attempts to reach 50 points in NBA history, per Stat Head. It was also just the 12th time in NBA history that a player scored 50 points on 80 percent or higher field goal shooting.
Antetokounmpo is a two-time MVP and is still improving as well. This season he is shooting free throws at his highest percentage since the 2018-19 season, a career-high 3-point percentage, and is just .1 points per game off of his career-high average. Not to mention his improvement as a shooter, adding a post-fade jumper to his game.
Moving to the defensive side of the ball, an aspect of Antetokounmpo’s game that doesn’t get talked about as much because of how dominant he is on the offensive side of the ball. Yet, Giannis is making a strong impact on that end of the floor as well. In the last Defensive Player Ladder released by NBA.com before the All-Star break, Antetokounmpo was ranked first, the main point of contention was the Bucks points allowed per 100 possessions went from third with Giannis on the floor to 17th when he’s on the bench.
If Giannis Antetokounmpo can make a strong push in the Milwaukee Bucks’ remaining games, he could very well become the first player ever to win MVP and Defensive Player of the year in the same year twice in his career.
BTBP All-Star Break Grade: A
Stay tuned to see if the Greek Freak can pull it off.