With the 2023-24 season starting soon, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is making sure he's more than ready for the new campaign. Aside from keeping his body in top shape, the Greek Freak seems to be working on other facets of his game. That much is obvious after he was seen working out with NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon.
In a new video circulating online, Antetokounmpo can be seen linking up with Olajuwon in the University of Houston gym. While it was not shown what they were working on together, it's not hard to assume what the Bucks star would want to learn from one of the greatest centers ever to play on the NBA hardwood.
Giannis Antetokounmpo in the gym with Hakeem Olajuwon 🔥
(via @UHCougarMBK)pic.twitter.com/pHbhg1cGYZ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 23, 2023
Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the best post-up players in NBA history, and it's only fitting for Giannis Antetokounmpo to work on that area of his game by learning from one of the greatest to ever do it. Not to mention that Antetokounmpo can learn a thing or two about improving his footwork by watching The Dream.
It remains to be seen how much Antetokounmpo has actually learned from his workout with Olajuwon, but the league will be in trouble if the Bucks forward is able to elevate his post play even further.
Hakeem Olajuwon criticisms
Sure enough, Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't seem bothered by the recent criticisms that Hakeem Olajuwon is getting. To recall, former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas called out the legend for charging $50,000 just for a workout with him.
Arenas didn't hold back in his lambasting of the basketball icon, saying: “Nobody wants that Hakeem Olajuwon skyhook. You should be ashamed of yourself. Charging these young whippersnappers $50,000. When you came into the league in 1984, you weren’t getting $50,000 a game. You’re trying to make the money back through the youth!”
For what it's worth, however, Olajuwon received support from his peers as well. His former Houston Rockets teammate Ralph Sampson took offense on what Arenas said and emphasized what the ex-NBA guard was missing in his controversial comments about Olajuwon.
“Gilbert, I respect his game to whatever degree, but when you try to compare that to ‘The Dream,' Hakeem Olajuwon, big man back in the day, the skill-set and the footwork that Hakeem had, [Arenas] needs to go back and look at some more film because I don't think he really knows what the hell he’s talking about,” Sampson explained.
“You gotta understand that footwork, and the game today, is all about footwork.”
By the looks of it, Olajuwon isn't concerned about what Arenas said about him. He's just business as usual. But true enough, Sampson makes a great point about his fellow Rockets great. While the post-up game is a lost art in today's NBA, there are still things that players today can learn from the game in the past.
Hopefully, Antetokounmpo will be able to incorporate some learnings from old-school basketball and prove to everyone that it can still be a weapon in the modern game. The Bucks start their preseason in October, though their official games won't start until October 26 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
It will surely be an interesting battle as Antetokounmpo face the reigning NBA MVP in Joel Embiid. And it's also the perfect chance for him to try and see how much his post play has improved against one of the best big men in the league today.
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