Bucks' Giannis is 4th-Best Player in East? No Way, Kevin Garnett

Without offering much evidence, NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett says that Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is the fourth-best player in the Eastern Conference. That's just wrong. Here's why.

Cody Smith | Aug 26, 2024

Former basketball star Kevin Garnett on hand for the Colorado Buffaloes USC Trojans football game at Folsom Field. / John Leyba-USA TODAY Sports

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Milwaukee Bucks

MILWAUKEE — The Summer Olympics are gone and the NBA is dormant for the next month, so much of the pro basketball discourse could be relying on barbershop debates and hypotheticals such as:

Is Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo no longer the best player in the Eastern Conference?

In the latest episode of the Ticket & the Truth podcast, former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce downgraded Giannis, an All-NBA player (8 times), a defensive player of the year, a league MVP (twice), and an NBA Finals MVP and champion.

“You can't say that with [Joel] Embiid over there. And with Jayson Tatum over there. I'm not arguing that,” Garnett said. “He's probably like the fourth-best player in the East.”

KG said Giannis is "probably the 4th-best player in the East".

I thought it was a joke. I needed to watch the video. And i still believe this is a joke.

Whatever 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/cOtsczkFg4
— Harris Stavrou (@harris_stavrou) August 25, 2024

Garnett said "fourth-best" but named only Philadelphia 76ers center and 2023 MVP Embiid and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who last season joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players in league history to be named first team All-NBA in the same year that he won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal.

The only other players from last season that come to mind are New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, who were the only other East players aside from Antetokounmpo and Tatum who made an All-NBA team last season.

But c'mon, is Giannis fourth-best in the conference?

Making the case for Giannis

Garnett's comments could be attributed to recency bias. Tatum and the Celtics are the NBA champions. Embiid averaged better than a point per minute in his injury-shortened season. And Giannis and the Bucks' past two postseasons have ended quickly. But even with the 2023-24 season as the measure, Antetokounmpo is still the best player in the conference.

In 2023-24, Giannis became the first player in NBA history to average 30-plus points on 60% shooting. For a second consecutive season, he averaged 30-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 5-plus assists a game — a standard achieved only seven other times.

Giannis is a fixture on the All-NBA first team. Tatum has a current streak of three seasons and Luka Doncic four. But Giannis has the longest active streak at six seasons.

In the regular season and the postseason, Giannis has been the alpha on a team of All-Stars (Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Damian Lillard). In the most recent NBA Finals, Tatum was good but not as productive as MVP teammate Jaylen Brown. In the Olympics, Tatum's shooting abandoned him and his playing time vanished.

The arguments for Embiid make no sense. In four of his eight seasons, he has played 60 or more games four times — including 39 games in 2023-24. His 76ers teams have never advanced beyond the second round of the NBA playoffs. Giannis has averaged 81 regular-season and postseason games for his career. His greatest ability, besides his scoring, rebounding, and defense, may be his availability.

Entering the 2024-25 season, the Eastern Conference player hierarchy still looks like:

1. Antetokounmpo
2. Tatum
3. Embiid

Making the case for Giannis

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