[akritas]

By Neil Paine

One of the best point guards in the NBA right now stands 6 feet 11 inches tall.



Let that sit for moment.

OK, so Giannis Antetokounmpo also plays positions other than the point for the Milwaukee Bucks, and Matthew Dellavedova has been eating some of Antetokounmpo’s minutes at the 1. And frankly, it doesn’t really matter where Giannis plays, given that he can rattle off stat lines like the 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks he produced Tuesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The guy is good at damn near everything there is to do on a basketball court:



Antetokounmpo ranks among the top half of qualified2 NBA players in eight of them — turnovers are the only area where he was worse than the average player through Wednesday’s games.

But the Greek Freak is at his most transformative when he plays point guard. When 6-foot-5-inch James Harden — 6 inches shorter than Antetokounmpo — is already towering over opposing point guards after his move to the position this season, the idea of a 6-foot-11-inch terror in the open court, dunking on opponents in transition and making plays for teammates, is unprecedented. Since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, Toni Kukoc (in 1998-99) was the only player 6-foot-10-inch or taller to have a higher assist rate than Antetokounmpo has right now — and Kukoc wasn’t also rebounding or recording steals and blocks at anywhere near the same rates as Antetokounmpo is.

In fact, the mere sight of a guy his size, doing what he does, is startling. Against Cleveland, the side-by-side comparison between Antetokounmpo and LeBron James — heretofore the greatest combination of size, speed and athleticism in basketball — was eye opening:

To visualize what an outlier Antetokounmpo is among guards, here’s a plot of Box Plus/Minus against height for players listed by Basketball-Reference as point guards or shooting guards this season:



Antetokounmpo still needs to polish some of the finer aspects of playing guard, such as running a pick-and-roll and spotting up for jumpers. But! He’s also still days shy of his 22nd birthday. If he’s this good — and this versatile — now, watching Antetokounmpo reach his potential will be one of the NBA’s most entertaining storylines over the decade to come.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

NBA players that can put up insane stat-lines seem to be a dime a dozen these days. Ask Anthony Davis where freakish stat lines and physical skills get you.

[Donna]

From what I understand the metrics of the rules have changed over the decade to make it easier to show case individual talent, which is why it is difficult to compare today's stars to the likes of Jordan, Bird, Chamberlain, et al. The game has been re-engineered toward athleticism. I'm not complaining, but it has made it more difficult for non-black basketball players to compete in the American market.

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

You're wrong for a lot of reasons. Here are a few:

(1) Talented white athletes go to other sports. Namely baseball and golf for American talent, and tennis and soccer for European talent.
(2) One of the premier athletic talents in the NBA is Kristap Porzingis (sp?)
(3) Athleticism was also emphasized in other eras, but the difference in athleticism between the top athletes and the worst athletes was much larger.
(4) Basketball talent is highly emphasized in black culture, so it's no surprise that there are more talented black athletes.

Your racism is small-minded, as per usual.

[Donna]

(1) Talented white athletes go to other sports. Namely baseball and golf for American talent, and tennis and soccer for European talent.

In other words, less athletic sports. In the case of soccer, it has become commercially optimal now to harvest talent from black or MENA prospects.

(2) One of the premier athletic talents in the NBA is Kristap Porzingis (sp?)

He will never put up numbers like Wade, LeBron, or Kobe though, which is my point.

(3) Athleticism was also emphasized in other eras, but the difference in athleticism between the top athletes and the worst athletes was much larger.

The NBA has evolved toward athleticism because it wants to show case super stars who put up Jordan-esque numbers and pull millions of dollars in profits.

(4) Basketball talent is highly emphasized in black culture, so it's no surprise that there are more talented black athletes.

Athletically blacks are over-performers.

Your racism is small-minded, as per usual.

Yea, even though I enjoy seeing black athletes succeed and being the best with what nature has given them, we can't forget that my consumption of the sport is based on some kind of contemporaneous secular heresy.

#ThisIsWhyTrumpWon

[LV-GUCCI-PRADA-FLEX]

In other words, less athletic sports. In the case of soccer, it has become commercially optimal now to harvest talent from black or MENA prospects.

They're higher paying sports. They're actually more desirable to play if you can play them. The real question is why top black athletes don't go into those sports.

He will never put up numbers like Wade, LeBron, or Kobe though, which is my point.

He's actually on trajectory to put up better numbers than Kobe and Wade at a similar age as them. At age 20 he's putting up 20.6/7.4/1.5/1.7/.7/1.6to's. Those are incredible number for a 20 year old to put up. Lets not forget that he's shooting 39% from 3 at 7'2". Honestly the only thing that will keep him from being considered with those players is that big men tend to get less respect for what they do.

The NBA has evolved toward athleticism because it wants to show case super stars who put up Jordan-esque numbers and pull millions of dollars in profits.

But Jordan wasn't just an athletic freak, he was also extremely skilled in all aspects of the game, just like Kobe. Your explanation isn't fully explained by profit motive. It's also readily explained by changes in coaching, scouting, and analytics. There are still players that defy that, by the way. The best player in the game isn't an athletic freak, it's a scrawny point guard, and he still pulls in bank.

Athletically blacks are over-performers.

Because of why though? Is it really genetics or is it cultural? I've met plenty of athletically inept black people.

#ThisIsWhyTrumpWon

Your mom is why Trump won.

[Donna]

They're higher paying sports. They're actually more desirable to play if you can play them. The real question is why top black athletes don't go into those sports.

Are you implying that athletes play certain sports because they are higher paying at the professional level, rather than a personal affinity for their game of choice?

He's actually on trajectory to put up better numbers than Kobe and Wade at a similar age as them. At age 20 he's putting up 20.6/7.4/1.5/1.7/.7/1.6to's. Those are incredible number for a 20 year old to put up. Lets not forget that he's shooting 39% from 3 at 7'2". Honestly the only thing that will keep him from being considered with those players is that big men tend to get less respect for what they do.

Trust me, he won't ever put up the same numbers as Kobe and Wade did in their hay day. Part of it has to do with his size and what he's able to do with it (i.e. if he wasn't as big as he is then his stats would look a lot different). What we're seeing from him now is probably as good as it's going to get.

But Jordan wasn't just an athletic freak, he was also extremely skilled in all aspects of the game, just like Kobe. Your explanation isn't fully explained by profit motive. It's also readily explained by changes in coaching, scouting, and analytics. There are still players that defy that, by the way. The best player in the game isn't an athletic freak, it's a scrawny point guard, and he still pulls in bank.

Here's an article about the phenomenon in the sport that I am describing.

Because of why though? Is it really genetics or is it cultural? I've met plenty of athletically inept black people.

Culture is determined by both biodiversity and structural productions. It isn't either/or.