The Whiteboard: Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the East
By Ti Windisch
Let’s give credit to the players that actually play; Giannis Antetokounmpo has proven he’s the best player in the Eastern Conference.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had just a few weeks as the undisputed best player in the Eastern Conference, before Kawhi Leonard got traded to the Toronto Raptors. Now, we’ve got ourselves a debate: is Kawhi better than the Greek Freak?
Let’s look at some evidence to decide. First, here are the numbers from the last full season each player played, 2017-18 for Giannis and 2016-17 for Kawhi:
| Player | Season | Age | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 2017-18 | 23 | 75 | 2756 | 18.3 | .529 | 1.8 | .307 | 8.4 | .760 | 2.0 | 7.8 | 9.8 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 26.3 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 2016-17 | 25 | 74 | 2474 | 19.1 | .485 | 5.6 | .380 | 7.8 | .880 | 1.2 | 5.1 | 6.3 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 27.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/23/2018.
We’re running with their per 36 minutes stats because Giannis played a few more minutes per game than Kawhi did that season. Kawhi scored more than Giannis and was a better three-point shooter who got more steals.
On the other hand, Giannis had the better field goal percentage, rebounded better on both ends, dished more assists, and blocked more shots than Kawhi. The steals versus blocks thing represents a bigger part of the argument between these two players, actually.
Kawhi is the better one-on-one defender. That cannot be argued (if he’s healthy). That being said, he’s not better at help defense than Giannis is. Giannis is a damn good one-on-one defender, but he’s also a terror with his massive arms and lightning-quick strides. The Bucks become a much worse defense without him–in 2017-18, they coughed up 111.1 points per 100 possessions when he sat, compared to 105.4 when he played.
The Spurs, on the other hand, actually gave up more points per 100 possessions when Kawhi was on the floor in 2016-17. Their defense was at its best without him, holding teams to 96.0 points per 100 possessions as opposed to 104.0 when he played. (For more on why that might’ve been, read this great article about ‘Kawhisolation’ by Matt Moore.)
Kawhi Leonard is awesome, but when both players are completely healthy there’s not a huge gap between he and Giannis Antetokounmpo. That’s the thing–both players are not, or at least have not been, fully healthy. Kawhi missed almost all of last season, and looked like a shell of himself in the nine games he did play.
He might get back to his All-NBA form, but even if he does it could take him a while to get all the way back up to speed. He’s relatively young at age 27, but it’s not easy to take a whole year off.
Giannis, on the other hand, doesn’t turn 24 until December and has improved essentially every facet of his game in each of his NBA seasons. He finally has a real head coach in Mike Budenholzer after playing for Larry Drew and Jason Kidd in his first five seasons. Put some respect on the Greek Freak’s name, because he’s the Eastern Conference’s best player until Kawhi, or somebody else, can prove otherwise.
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