In a league that loves a superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s path through the 2024 NBA season and the recent postseason has been a surprisingly thankless one. Despite his unmatched resume, two-time MVP status, and relentless dedication to the game, Giannis has found himself on the receiving end of unwarranted criticism, disrespect, and doubt from media pundits and fans alike seemingly overnight.
This past season’s narrative has shifted from one of appreciation to one where everything Giannis does seems to be scrutinized or undervalued, creating a perplexing landscape for one of the league’s most dominant players.
Most recently, another egregious snub has materialized in the form of the NBA's annual GM survey, which asked front-office executives across the league 50 questions. One such topic in the 2024-25 NBA GM Survey was: "Who is the best international player in the NBA?"
The results? 87 percent of general managers voted overwhelmingly for the reigning MVP in Serbian big man Nikola Jokic. And in second and third place: Slovenian Luka Doncic and rookie Frenchman Victor Wembanyama.
The inclusion of Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic is understandable, as they have both showcased exceptional talent and made significant contributions to their respective teams. However, to completely ignore Antetokounmpo, who has consistently outperformed both players in terms of individual accolades and team success, is a baffling decision.
In fact, the snub becomes even more baffling when you consider that the same general managers still voted Antetokounmpo as the league's best power forward. To place the rookie Wembanyama over the two-time MVP is nothing short of erasure.
At the end of the day, the message is clear, and this snub is not only a personal insult to Antetokounmpo but also a reflection of the league's tendency to overlook players who don't fit the traditional mold.
The disrespect has been around long before Antetokounmpo's latest snub
It's not hard to find examples of Giannis, whose lofty skillset and resume are second to none, being left out of accolades and recognition left and right.
It all began during the offseason when Giannis made headlines with comments about his desire to stay competitive and his willingness to leave Milwaukee if the team didn't share his championship aspirations. What was a straightforward declaration of his ambition to win turned into fodder for critics who questioned his loyalty to the Bucks. Media figures framed his statements as discontent and a looming threat that he might bolt to a larger market—a classic narrative twist that implied Giannis wasn't committed enough, despite his efforts to build something special in Milwaukee.
Giannis’ 2024 season was nothing short of spectacular, yet the prevailing narrative among pundits seemed to completely overlook his continued evolution as a player. Analysts often hyper-focused on his shooting struggles from the free-throw line and beyond the arc, dismissing his dominance in nearly every other aspect of the game. The discourse shifted to what he couldn't do, ignoring the fact that he was single-handedly bending defenses and impacting games in ways that very few players in NBA history could.
As the season started, the Bucks were suddenly placed under a microscope, with new head coach Adrian Griffin and a revamped roster that included the addition of Damian Lillard. The bar was set high, with the expectation that anything short of a championship would be a failure. This wasn’t a pressure unique to Giannis, but the way he was held accountable seemed different. Every missed shot, every defensive lapse, every game that didn’t end in a dominant Bucks win was another opportunity to blame Giannis, as if his generational talent had to answer for every shortcoming of his team.
One can't help but wonder why this shift in perception has taken place. Is it simply a case of fatigue from Giannis’ continued excellence? Is it because he isn't as active on social media or flashy in his persona compared to some of his peers? Or is it something deeper, a bias against his non-American background that still influences how his achievements are viewed in contrast to others?
The media scrutiny surrounding Giannis has also unfortunately spilled over to the Bucks as a whole. Asked about the team's recent snub from the NBA Christmas Day games, Giannis simply said: "We've always been overlooked."
"I'm tired of the disrespect. I'm coming," Giannis said in a somewhat cryptic tweet in May after he was snubbed yet again from another All-Defensive team award. If those words are any indication, fans would be wise to expect another historically dominant season from the Bucks superstar.
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