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Maybe it's me, but I feel like you just don't hear anyone talk about Giannis these days, be it the media or social media or r/nba or RealGM. He's just about a consensus top 3 player and has been for years, but there are so many players who get discussed more than he does. He's almost flying under the radar at this point.

He hasn't really improved all that much after his MVP season. Obviously still an incredible talent, but many expected him to reach an MJ/Kobe/LeBron type level where it was just him, and everybody else. (kind of like where Jokic is right now).

Maybe people have gotten used to his greatness on the court. There are also no scandals on or off the court. Quiet private life. Plus he has a great season, but isn't really an MVP candidate due to SGA/Jokic and the Bucks are a good but not great team.

Reminds me of Duncan. At some point people weren't really talking about him anymore. Everybody knew he was great, but there wasn't much to say.

Great player, great guy.

I watched the Bucks a lot over the last few years but I guess I feel like I've seen them at this point. Even their announcers sound kinda bored haha.

You're right that Giannis is still amazing and prob needs more attention, but he and the Bucks are just kinda off the radar this season.

The Bucks won the title in 2021 and people expected the Bucks and Giannis to remain a perennial title contender.

In 2022 they had a subpar season relative to the past, finishing 51-31 and losing a tough 2nd round 7 game series to the Celtics.

In 2023 the Bucks had a great season but got upset and humiliated by the Heat in the 1st round in just 5 games. Giannis got hurt after game 3 but he wasn't having a great series.

In 2024 the Bucks did worse finishing 49-33, and Giannis was hurt. They lost to the Pacers in the 1st round.

So in the last 3 years the Bucks have not really done much damage in the playoffs, they have had injuries which has hurt their season performances...so the hype is gone.

I'm not surprised he isn't really being mentioned much, especially considering he's been injured for a big chunk of this season. If the Bucks can stay healthy and make another finals run they will be talked about again.

Same thing happened with Kawhi...legendary finals run in 2019, but nobody talks about him anymore due to injuries and Clippers lack of post-season success.

that's the perk (because giannis probably likes it this way) of playing outside of LA/NY/some other big media town.

Roco14 wrote:He hasn't really improved all that much after his MVP season. Obviously still an incredible talent, but many expected him to reach an MJ/Kobe/LeBron type level where it was just him, and everybody else. (kind of like where Jokic is right now).

He's actually made a noticeable improvement to his mid range jumper this season taking advantage of the space the opposing defenses give him:
10 - 16ft: 32.3% last season -> 51.8%
-> 1.27 attempts -> 1.93
16ft - <3pt: 37.8% -> 43.7%
-> 1.35 attempts -> 2.86

Ironically, it's come with him now at a career low 57.7% from the FT line.

As a whole, I think the sentiment towards the Bucks as a team has rubbed off on Giannis. He's still as good as ever and projected to earn another 1st team nod but the inability to break through and challenge Cleveland and Boston for supremacy in the East makes it sort of boring to discuss the him and thus the team. He's still at MVP-level production, it's just Jokic and SGA have separated themselves from the pack. Even in JT's case, he's having a career year for Boston team firmly entrenched in that 2nd seed but arguably still the best team in the league.

What playing for Doc Rivers does to a MF'er

And dumb Celtics fans still think that Tatum is better than him when he isn’t.

Bucks are very average, but he's a great player. He's pretty much a lock to average close to 30/10/6/1/1 for the next couple seasons atleast.

I think most people would agree hes a top 3 player in the NBA, very marketable, and a great guy. He's a household name, and every basketball fan knows about him. He tends to stay out of trouble, so you won't really hear about him. Jokic, and SGA are very similar in that regard.

DLoMor wrote:And dumb Celtics fans still think that Tatum is better than him when he isn’t.

Nobody thinks that. Like, at all.

He just needs a good playoff run to get back on peoples radars.

The Bucks are on-pace for like a 47-win season. They've lost in the first round in the two preceding seasons and they got taken out by Boston the year before that in the second round (in a 7-game series). There isn't a lot of team-level hype around them at the moment to drive the conversation. They aren't dominating on O or on D. They aren't bad, they just aren't a top team at either end.

Giannis is pretty quiet, doesn't make a lot of waves, as others have mentioned. Statistically, he's having a similar year to last season. He's dropping the ball on a Shaq-like level at the foul line, even as his middie has improved, but he's still pretty excellent overall.

There just isn't a ton to talk about. You get the most pub when you're in a big city or you're on a high-end team, and neither of those are true for Giannis this season. This will probably be the 7th-straight season where he's top-4 in the MVP vote if people are paying attention come that time, but what is there to say about him at the moment, you know?

phanman wrote:

Roco14 wrote:He hasn't really improved all that much after his MVP season. Obviously still an incredible talent, but many expected him to reach an MJ/Kobe/LeBron type level where it was just him, and everybody else. (kind of like where Jokic is right now).

He's actually made a noticeable improvement to his mid range jumper this season taking advantage of the space the opposing defenses give him:
10 - 16ft: 32.3% last season -> 51.8%
-> 1.27 attempts -> 1.93
16ft - <3pt: 37.8% -> 43.7%
-> 1.35 attempts -> 2.86

Ironically, it's come with him now at a career low 57.7% from the FT line.

As a whole, I think the sentiment towards the Bucks as a team has rubbed off on Giannis. He's still as good as ever and projected to earn another 1st team nod but the inability to break through and challenge Cleveland and Boston for supremacy in the East makes it sort of boring to discuss the him and thus the team. He's still at MVP-level production, it's just Jokic and SGA have separated themselves from the pack. Even in JT's case, he's having a career year for Boston team firmly entrenched in that 2nd seed but arguably still the best team in the league.

Besides his free throw shooting (which is obviously a mental thing) he has found at least one thing to improve on every year. Giannis developing a jumper is exactly what he needed to extend his career.

Who cares if people are talking about him....he needs to stay healthy in the postseason and carry that team further than people think is possible. Then people will talk about him again.

NyKnicks1714 wrote:Maybe it's me, but I feel like you just don't hear anyone talk about Giannis these days, be it the media or social media or r/nba or RealGM. He's just about a consensus top 3 player and has been for years, but there are so many players who get discussed more than he does. He's almost flying under the radar at this point.

The paradox is that by starting a thread, you have disproven your thesis.

But yeah, you're right. That said, no one has forgotten how good he is or that he's in the handful of names mentioned for MVP every season.

The Dame trade has been a disaster so far…The Bucks have no future to look forward to unless they trade Giannis to recoup a ton of assets

Wargreymon wrote:The Dame trade has been a disaster so far…The Bucks have no future to look forward to unless they trade Giannis to recoup a ton of assets

Meanwhile the Raptors future is Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes

Ill take Giannis and Dame for the next couple years with an outside shot at getting to the Finals over that “future”

He hasnt done anything in the playoffs in a while.

Wargreymon wrote:The Dame trade has been a disaster so far…The Bucks have no future to look forward to unless they trade Giannis to recoup a ton of assets

It hasn't worked out as well as they thought, but it's far from a disaster. They weren't going anywhere with Jrue in his place and Allen was already pricing himself out of Milwaukee as evidenced by the contract he got this offseason. Sure losing a 2029 FRP and 2 swaps hurts, but the upside to bring in a guy like Dame was well worth it. An untimely injury to Giannis late in the season derailed yet another postseason for the team but Dame has quietly rebounded this season: 25.6pts, 7.5reb, 4.7ast on 62.2%TS (45/38/91).

I didn't like the idea of bringing in Kuzma but at least they got younger with him bringing another layer of athleticism to that front court. With Bobby's suspension, the move even looks better now with him now set to soak up all those minutes.

Plus, they at least won the Emirate's Cup

phanman wrote:

Roco14 wrote:He hasn't really improved all that much after his MVP season. Obviously still an incredible talent, but many expected him to reach an MJ/Kobe/LeBron type level where it was just him, and everybody else. (kind of like where Jokic is right now).

He's actually made a noticeable improvement to his mid range jumper this season taking advantage of the space the opposing defenses give him:
10 - 16ft: 32.3% last season -> 51.8%
-> 1.27 attempts -> 1.93
16ft - <3pt: 37.8% -> 43.7%
-> 1.35 attempts -> 2.86

Ironically, it's come with him now at a career low 57.7% from the FT line.

As a whole, I think the sentiment towards the Bucks as a team has rubbed off on Giannis. He's still as good as ever and projected to earn another 1st team nod but the inability to break through and challenge Cleveland and Boston for supremacy in the East makes it sort of boring to discuss the him and thus the team. He's still at MVP-level production, it's just Jokic and SGA have separated themselves from the pack. Even in JT's case, he's having a career year for Boston team firmly entrenched in that 2nd seed but arguably still the best team in the league.

His midrange improvement has gotten some attention but not enough imo. It's impressive.

However, he hasn't been as good at the rim this season, in addition to the free throws.