On Tuesday, it was officially announced that Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted the Defensive Player of the Year. Another trophy to add to his mantle that probably needs its own No Vacancy sign at this point.
All of these accolades have led some people to start drumming up comparisons to legendary players at the same age, and Locked On Bucks Podcast host Kane Pitman went all the way to the top, Michael Jordan.
Kane Pitman: Giannis at 25 years old, assuming he’s going to win the MVP, I think that’s a very safe bet, he’s won 2 MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year, a Most Improved Player, 4-Time All-NBA, 2-Time All-Defense.
Which basically is exactly the same as Michael Jordan at that age. Except Jordan is missing an MVP and won a Rookie of the Year instead of a Most Improved Player.
The big thing to me that stands out when we talk about the difference between the NBA in 2020 and the Social Media Era and how quick we are to criticize players as not being air-quotes winners, the point that stands out to me is that Jordan didn’t win his first championship for another two years.
And we’re looking at Giannis and we see the criticism of Giannis saying ‘he can’t win’ and ‘he’s not a winning player.’ You look at his resume for a guy that’s only 25 years, it is absolutely insane what we’ve been fortunate enough to watch the last couple of years, across his whole career I should say.
If Giannis is going to stay on the ‘Michael Jordan Track’ then he has two more years to win a title. But will social media and the media at large hold off on their criticism of Giannis Antetokounmpo for that long? We all know the answer to that.
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