LeBron “Giannis would put up 250 points in a game in the 70s”

[Prince187]

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I don’t think he would even come close to averaging what he does today. There was no spacing like there is today. You had big men clogging up the lane. He wouldn’t have gotten 15 free throws a night. The refs actually called traveling and carrying back then. And he wouldn’t have had the advantage of playing against a bunch of potheads who show no defensive intensity and usually mail it in during the regular season.

[NZB2323]

Giannis is kind of a mix between Dr. J and Moses Malone so he’d do quite well in the 70s. Saying he’d average 250 is just silly though. I could see him averaging 30 and 15 though. And saying Giannis plays against potheads is silly considering the cocaine problem the NBA had in the 70s.

[Packbuckman]

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I don’t think he would even come close to averaging what he does today. There was no spacing like there is today. You had big men clogging up the lane. He wouldn’t have gotten 15 free throws a night. The refs actually called traveling and carrying back then. And he wouldn’t have had the advantage of playing against a bunch of potheads who show no defensive intensity and usually mail it in during the regular season.

He is still 7 ft tall that would be more athletic than anyone playing and yes he would be getting fouled and to the line he is also 1st in fast break points that ain’t changing. He would have developed his jumper and low post moves sooner because that how they played then.

[Drakeem]

All of the points you've raised IMO are negligible bc he only has to do those moves due to less contact being allowed and finesse being the superior way to play in todays league.

We're not going to sit here and pretend that there weren't other centers who relied on paint points for the majority of their scoring. Place him in an era where he doesn't have to constant check himself on his strength and size? Yeah, he's too strong, quick, and tbh skilled for most teams to be able to defend him. LeBron has a bit of hyperbole here, but Giannis is a monster.

[HighFlyer23]

Bronny wouldn't score 250 points over a 20 year career in the 70s

LeFraud needs to stfu and teach his kid how to play

[-Luke-]

There is quite some gray area between "not able to play" and "scoring 250". Both are silly. Giannis would be a superstar in any era.

[Patches Perry]

There are two competing factors that are difficult for me to balance:

1. In general, I think players get better with every generation. The newer generations build off of the old ones. Standing on the shoulders of giants and such.

2. In general, I think almost all players with only a few exceptions (random guys who had interesting skillsets) would be a worse fit in other eras than they are in their own era. That includes Jordan, Lebron and all the greats. They tailored their game to the sport they were playing, which is almost an entirely different sport than the game that was played in other eras.

Giannis would struggle with carrying/traveling in the 70s, but he'd still be dominant defensively and very good offensively. Obviously averaging 250 is hyperbole but he'd be as impactful as he is now, just in different ways.

[Prince187]

Giannis is kind of a mix between Dr. J and Moses Malone so he’d do quite well in the 70s. Saying he’d average 250 is just silly though. I could see him averaging 30 and 15 though. And saying Giannis plays against potheads is silly considering the cocaine problem the NBA had in the 70s.

I know all about the alleged cocaine problems of the 70s and I don’t buy it. First off they have opposite effects, weed makes you want to sit on the couch all day while cocaine makes you want to run through a brick wall. But more importantly I think the amount of players using back then is very exaggerated. Not only was it illegal under NBA rules it was illegal under all federal and state laws. You’d go to prison for it. It’s not like today where weed is legal under both nba rules and many states and there are thousands of legal weed shops where you can buy 90% THC concentrate vapes that you can carry in your pocket and smoke all day

[pipfan]

There is quite some gray area between "not able to play" and "scoring 250". Both are silly. Giannis would be a superstar in any era.

Exactly-stars would almost always translate well across eras

[Billl]

He would have been a star. His only real flaw in this era is his lack of 3 ball. In an era where bigs were just expected to play like bigs, he'd still be an athletic freak

[CIN-C-STAR]

In a Time Machine scenario, he would struggle to adjust to the carry and travel rules and get called for a lot of offensive fouls.
He’d still be plenty impactful of course and probably an MVP candidate, but this was a dumb comment. He would dominate some matchups but I definitely don’t think he’d dominate Kareem or guys like Nate Thurmond.
There were some very athletic bigs in the 70s.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

6'11" with ball handling in any era is basically a cheat code, even if you adjust for the carrying rules he'd still probably have the best dribble among all players.


175pts is more reasonable.

[Black Jack]

Giannis would have to adjust his play style, they would clog the lane on him and stop at least some of the full court rim running. No 3 point shot means its easier to pack the lane.

He'd be great of course, but saying he'd just roll over Kareem, Moses, Thurmond, Artis Gilmore, Bob Lanier, Elvin Hayes, Cowens etc. is silly.

His lack of post skill would have to get addressed.

He'd also get banged up a lot more because that was allowed back then.

[Black Jack]

Bronny wouldn't score 250 points over a 20 year career in the 70s

LeFraud needs to stfu and teach his kid how to play

Bronny would average 50 in the 50s though

Just imagine, all time great Bronny James leading the Minneapolis Lakers to glory in partnership with "the big lake" himself, George Mikan

[tsherkin]

So Lebron is being entirely hyperbolic, but Giannis WOULD certainly be outstanding in the 70s. He's a powerfully-built 7-footer with significant athleticism. He'd be a monster. 250 points in a game is still insane, though. Even Lebron has to know that it's exaggeration of the highest order.

[Stan]

This dude asked if Giannis would be a bench player. Lmao.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Wasn't Wilt Chamberlain a big scary athletic guy with some basketball skills back in whatever era? Did he just dominate the league with his individual and team offence? If you look at his ppg seasons you might think so, but the answer was no.

[tsherkin]

Giannis would have to adjust his play style, they would clog the lane on him and stop at least some of the full court rim running. No 3 point shot means its easier to pack the lane.

He wouldn't have to adjust THAT much. There were face-up bigs at the time. Bellamy, for example. McAdoo, for another. Minutes per game would be a bit different, and his FT% would work against him, but he could crush points at a level few others could match at the time, no question.

He'd be great of course, but saying he'd just roll over Kareem, Moses, Thurmond, Artis Gilmore, Bob Lanier, Elvin Hayes, Cowens etc. is silly.

It's hard to imagine looking at Thurmond, Gilmore, Lanier, Hayes (who wasn't actually very good on offense at all) and Cowens as better players.

The "clogged lane" response to earlier eras is a little overplayed. League average pace is also a consideration, which means getting behind the defense. In 1970, league average was 117.1 possessions per game. In 75, it was 104.5. By 79, 105.8. This season, it's it's 98.9, for context.

So while it's possible that the halfcourt sets might be a bit more challenging, you had more guards who could throw a decent hi-lo, different defensive rules, and crazy average pace which left any big who was any kind of decent at running able to catch a ton of easy points. And Giannis would be among the strongest guys in the league. There would be some guys (Wilt early, Moses later on, Gilmore throughout) who would be more powerful or at least challenge him, of course, but even still.

Food for thought.

[Black Jack]

Wasn't Wilt Chamberlain a big scary athletic guy with some basketball skills back in whatever era? Did he just dominate the league with his individual and team offence? If you look at his ppg seasons you might think so, but the answer was no.

you're right, Wilt wasn't dominant

guy practically struggled to win a slot as a starter!

[tsherkin]

Wasn't Wilt Chamberlain a big scary athletic guy with some basketball skills back in whatever era? Did he just dominate the league with his individual and team offence? If you look at his ppg seasons you might think so, but the answer was no.

Wilt was 33 in the 69-70 season, his 12-game season. So, pushing mid-30s with a knee injury.

But yes, he was still a monster, a very effective rim defender and rebounder. He was a high-efficiency, low-volume guy at that point of his career. He would play 3 more seasons in that decade, scoring under 20 ppg in two of them.

Food for thought.