The word freakish has been used to describe a lot of players around the NBA these days. Obviously, there’s LeBron James who continues to do unworldly things on the basketball court at his age. There’s Stephen Curry, who may not be as blessed athletically, but possesses range and crazy accuracy that’s out of this world. But when it comes to the new generation, no one personifies what a freak athlete is as much as Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and New Orleans Pelicans budding star Zion Williamson.
These two have practically been considered as unicorns ever since they step foot in the league.
Their paths to the big leagues, couldn’t have been more different. The Greek Freak was a relatively unknown raw talent from Greece before being drafted 15th overall in 2013.
Williamson, on the other hand, has had the spotlight on him ever since he began annihilating the competition in high school and became the consensus no.1 draft pick in 2019.
For sure, these two are at the top of the food chain in terms of natural athletic prowess.
The question, however, is will that talent translate to winning NBA titles down the road? Let’s discuss which athletic freak will win more championships when it’s all said and done.
The case for Giannis
While the Greek Freak was extremely skinny when got to the NBA, his scary height and length were already a problem from Day 1. The two-time NBA MVP even grew a couple more inches throughout the years and added muscle to fill out that frame.
The countless hours in the weight room definitely paid off, as he simply overpowered the competition to become a bona fide superstar.
Nowadays, it’s an automatic bucket whenever Giannis gets a full head of steam on the break. Antetokounmpo has been around the league longer than Williamson, so fans already have a deeper grasp of how he uses that athleticism to win more games.
Giannis has led the Bucks to the postseason for the last four seasons. Sure, Milwaukee has yet to even get out of the East during Giannis’ reign, but he has already proven his athleticism can turn a team into perennial contenders.
The case for Zion
As far as generational talents go, Williamson is a true freak of nature.
His amazing mix of grace and power arguably already rivals that of legendary dunkers like Vince Carter, Julius Erving, and Dominique Wilkins.
The 6-foot-7 behemoth is pretty much a walking anomaly. No man carrying that amount of muscle mass should be able to glide through the air as he does.
Williamson hasn’t been around the block for long but has already made waves around the league. However, we haven’t seen him even reach the postseason yet, so we have no clue how his elite athleticism would be utilized in that stage.
The former Duke standout’s physical tools, however, have already been overwhelming even for some of the league’s toughest defenders.
The verdict
Zion Williamson is currently part of a youthful, promising core of the Pelicans, but it’s clear that Giannis Antetokounmpo does have an edge on him on this one.
We haven’t seen enough out of Zion just yet to have a full grasp of what he can do on the big stage.
Giannis, on the other hand, has his fair share of disappointing exits in the playoffs, but at least we know that he can actually lead his team in the right direction.
Plus, the Bucks are significantly better than the Pels right now, and NOLA is still a few more pieces away from truly contending.
The Greek Freak, meanwhile, just needs the right pieces around him to finally turn Milwaukee’s fortunes around.
At the moment, Giannis Antetokounmpo is closer to winning an NBA title than Zion and looks like he will have more opportunities than Williamson in the foreseeable future.
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