After an offseason full of Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, the superstar has been off to an unreal start for the Milwaukee Bucks, even for his standards. He's led the Bucks to a 3-1 start to the season, with their most recent win coming against the Knicks, a team projected to finish in the top two in the East.
Antetokounmpo scored 37 points (for the second time this season) in the 121-111 win over New York, shooting 16-of-22 from the field. He added eight rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and one steal in 33 minutes.
He's averaging 36 points, 16 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game for Milwaukee through four contests, shooting 68.3% from the field. Giannis is reminding everyone that not only is he one of the best players in the world (in case anyone forgot), but that the Bucks can be a real threat in the East.
On "The Athletic NBA Daily" podcast, Eric Nehm talked about how absurd a level Giannis is playing on, and how this is the best he's ever looked. Keep in mind that, over the past three seasons, he averaged over 30 points and 11 rebounds per game. The season before that (2021-22), he averaged 29.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
Giannis reaching a new level of unstoppable, and having a lot of fun doing so, has Milwaukee fans on cloud nine.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is putting the rest of the league on notice
Everyone heard all summer about how New York and Cleveland would be the best teams in the East, with the conference open outside of that. There was talk about the Pistons, Hawks, and even the Magic, but not much was said about the Bucks, at least not about them finishing in the top six. Most people didn't think (and still may not believe) that Giannis would last the whole season with the Bucks.
It's still early—very early—but all Milwaukee can do is take it one game at a time. Giannis has made it clear that he's focused on doing whatever he can to help the Bucks win, and he's doing that (and more).
Giannis doesn't have a co-star, but his supporting cast is doing pretty well. Ryan Rollins scored a career-high 25 points in the win over New York. Rollins, Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Cole Anthony, and Kevin Porter Jr. are averaging double-digits in points scored, joining Giannis. Even Kyle Kuzma had valuable minutes off the bench on Tuesday, locking down Karl-Anthony Towns.
Say what you want about the Bucks, but you can't ignore them, especially not when they have Giannis playing like he's going to win another MVP. And he looks better than when he did when he won his other two MVP awards.