NBA: 30 greatest international players in league history
Greatest international NBA players of all time: 7. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Drafting is usually more about who a prospect can become compared to what he may be in the present day. It’s about playing the long game with the hope that a player can turn into something truly special. Most teams still prefer to play it safe depending on their draft position, but there have been times where front offices swing for the fences.
There wasn’t much of a track record behind Giannis Antetokounmpo heading into the 2013 Draft. The year before, he had averaged 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while playing for a second-tier basketball league in Greece.
What drew the eye of the Bucks was his physicality. Antetokounmpo stood 6’9″ to go along with a 7’3” wingspan and 12-inch long hands. That size isn’t something one can simply acquire. You either have it or you don’t. Giannis did with room for even more growth, which was apparently all Milwaukee needed to take him 15th overall.
As many raw prospects find out, making the jump to the NBA is difficult. Giannis would struggle as a rookie but still found ways to flash his immense potential. In each of the next five seasons, the Greek Freak would increase his points and rebounds per game while establishing himself as not only one of the best in the game, but by far the most unique in league history.
How many players have ever stood nearly seven feet tall who can handle the ball and take one dribble from half court and get to the rim? Can that same person legitimately guard all five positions and protect the basket at the other end? In 2016-17, he became the first ever in NBA history to finish top-20 in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals, but it was only an appetizer for future production.
With an improved head coach and supporting cast, Antetokounmpo fully asserted his dominance over the rest of the league during the 2018-19 campaign. In leading his Bucks to a league-best 60-wins, he averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists to go along with 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals a game. He was awarded his first MVP trophy later in the summer.
In just a handful of seasons so far, Antetokounmpo is a three-time All-NBA member, two-time All-Defensive Team selection with two MVPs and a Most Improved Player trophy as well. Keep in mind, he’s accomplished all of this with defenses acutely aware of his inability to knock down a 3-point shot at 27.7 percent.
There’s no way the Bucks saw this level of talent in Giannis upon drafting him, but they have since reinvested in the repeat MVP with a supermax deal.
The rest of the league certainly didn’t. They’re now rewarded handsomely for their conviction with a superstar in the present to help compete for championships, one who will only climb further up this list as the years progress.