Once Giannis Antetokounmpo secured his first championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, his status officially reached the realm of chasing metaphoric NBA ghosts. Which, for some, seems to mean erasing a certain G.O.A.T.
Last Thursday night, Antetokounmpo continued to cement his ascent through the pantheon of the top-75 greatest. Not only did his 44-point performance put him five points ahead of the former Bucks all-time scoring leader, but he did it in dominant fashion.
Dunking on bodies, hitting a three-pointer to send the game into overtime, and shedding his old Achilles heel by knocking down free throws to seal the game. All against the consensus-best player in the league, Kevin Durant.
Giannis Antetokounmpo breaking Milwaukee Bucks records should shine a light on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s greatness
Antetokounmpo’s credit was well-deserved for everything that he accomplished that night. However, seeing people marvel at him breaking the Bucks record at such a young age -27 years old – was confusing to some.
A statement like that may seem odd without context. Yet, a not-so-deep dive would explain the obvious. The city of Milwaukee and the NBA has seen this from the very man that Antetokounmpo passed.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the Bucks with 14,211 points at the same exact age of 27. As a matter of fact, Abdul-Jabbar’s feat was done in three fewer seasons, 185 fewer games, and with zero three-point shots.
By the time his Milwaukee run was over, the Hall-of-Fame center had one of his six championships under his belt, four Most Valuable Player awards (three league and one Finals), and four All-Defensive team appearances. When compared to Antetokounmpo, that is one less Defensive Player of the Year award, one more Most Valuable Player trophy, and almost identical accolades across the board.
Abdul-Jabbar did this through the pure paint dominance of grabbing rebounds or having the ball fed to him. He was devoid of the luxury of ballhandling skills that could get him going downhill towards the basket. Instead, he had a skyhook shot that was nearly impossible to block.
The Hall-of-Famer was unstoppable in a time when three-point shots were not even allowed. This naturally put bodies near the paint. Not quite a wall, but a presence. He also had four years of defensive statistics that were unaccounted for, because they were not being recorded by the NBA.
He cast such a broad shadow, that his league-leading 38,387 career points record will have lasted 34 years before being overtaken by LeBron James (if/when James takes it next season). In the same 20-season span.
Once again, Antetokounmpo overtaking Abdul-Jabbar is a case of legends pursuing the ghosts of the NBA’s past. As they should. This is why the moment is not a referendum on Antetokounmpo’s greatness, but rather a spotlight for the younger generation to acknowledge the man he once hoped his jersey would be retired next to.