Athletically: Giannis Antetokounmpo vs prime Kevin Garnett

[nybluemeadow]

I'm trying to evaluate Giannis. I can't think of another 7 footer who has elite shooting guard athleticism. Prime KG is the only guy i can think of who is 7 feet tall with freakish athleticism.

Has Giannis already surpassed KG in terms of athleticism?

[SHAQ32]

Is Giannis 7 feet?..if so I would say he runs the floor better, but overall KG was still a better athlete.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc55hijZgRs[/youtube]

#2 is still one of my favorite dunks

[mattg]

Pretty sure Giannis has grown to 7ft. He is noticeably taller than the centers on the bucks roster including sanders when he was there. I think KG and Giannis are very comparable athletically. Garnett IMO had more vertical explosion and strength, but Giannis is more fluid and moves like a gigantic guard. It's pretty remarkable watching him run the floor.

[NO-KG-AI]

KG by a lot.

[H2tObes]

KG by a lot.

Not sure about that. Like Mattg said KG was more explosive, but Giannis runs the floor as well as a 7 footer possibly could. Don't see how they are all that different athletically

[orlandomanic]

If you made each guy race each other and did a vertical leap test, the measurements would probably be the same.

In regards to quickness, i think KG is faster, while Giannis still struggles with his first step, that is why he still struggles as a scorer.

In terms of strength, is very weak and gets pushed around alot in the post, KG is skinny but he can still hold his own in the post.

KG is alittle more athletic than Giannis, but Giannis can still young and can easily improve his quickness and strength, so after a few years, i think Giannis could possibly equal or surpass prime KG in terms of athleticism.

[orlandomanic]

Pretty sure Giannis has grown to 7ft. He is noticeably taller than the centers on the bucks roster including sanders when he was there. I think KG and Giannis are very comparable athletically. Garnett IMO had more vertical explosion and strength, but Giannis is more fluid and moves like a gigantic guard. It's pretty remarkable watching him run the floor.

Yep, every time Giannis stands next to Zaza, their doesn't seem to be much of a difference in height.

[NO-KG-AI]

KG by a lot.

Not sure about that. Like Mattg said KG was more explosive, but Giannis runs the floor as well as a 7 footer possibly could. Don't see how they are all that different athletically

KG is just a much bigger guy. When someone is bigger than you, and more explosive than you, and you don't have an advantage over them anywhere athletically... you're an inferior athlete. They aren't all that different like LeBron and someone at 225 aren't all that different. Size matters.

Don't think Zaza is 7' tall either. He's listed at 6'11 everywhere, which probably means he's 6'10 to 6'10.5, like Giannis. Giannis is smooth as all hell, and plenty explosive himself, I just don't see him being able to go man to man with guys like prime T-Mac for a full game, and completely shut him down, while being close to 7'1 and 250.(He held him to 4 points in a game where he guarded him full time)

KG could match up with, and shut down guys ranging from T-Mac to Amare/Marion in tandem because of other worldly athleticism at his size.

If in 15 years, Giannis has lost a ton of athleticism, but he's still able to be a top tier per minute defender because of his size, coordination, and remaining mobility + motor, we'll talk. Can't see him getting more athletic as he ages, and right now, he doesn't look more athletic than KG was at 245-250. KG had to fall off the cliff athletically, and have multiple knee surgeries and a ton of minutes before he even fell to the tier of merely one of the better athletes as a C/PF.

[NO-KG-AI]

Also, I looked at some pictures of Zaza with KG and with Giannis, and the only thing I can really glean from it is that Zaza has a mammoth freaking head. Jesus.

[E-Balla]

Also, I looked at some pictures of Zaza with KG and with Giannis, and the only thing I can really glean from it is that Zaza has a mammoth freaking head. Jesus.

It's like a noticeable big. Like the biggest head I've ever seen in person by a mile.

[thizznation]

Should be assault with a deadly weapon...

[CavaliersFTW]

You guys need to come up with a standardized criteria for athleticism and height because all these threads never come down to any eye opening conclusions, and they tend to omit so many players throughout the games history. First off - when comparing any players height I feel you should always know and point out exactly how tall the measured without shoes as that removes all outside variables and can create a baseline for comparison (a range of height, or a minimum height). That's the starting point. Calling someone a "7 footer" seems to mean anyone from 6 foot 9 and up these days but that's not really all that honest. Giannis for example, was a 6 foot 9 inch rookie that allegedly grew exactly 1/2 inch to 6 foot 9 and 1/2 without shoes. (some ignorant reporter who didn't know what in shoes vs without shoes height was proceeded to report that Giannis grew 2 inches but that is incorrect, the numbers used indicated he allegedly grew 1/2 inch) So is 6 foot 9 and 1/2 without shoes the height we're talking about? There's a lot of players throughout history that height or taller that could potentially qualify as "just" as athletic and then some if we account for a collection of measurable and observable types of athleticism.

So from there, like I said, what's the exact criteria for athleticism here? Generally if there's nothing specific being pointed out it takes everything into consideration, the combination of size, strength, speed, agility, leaping ability and stamina for example. I personally think KG and Giannis both, are lesser athletes than young Shaq, Jabbar, Artis Gilmore, and Wilt Chamberlain for example. Wilt in particular has a pretty much cut and dry case as greatest athlete in the history of the NBA due to his combination of all those things. So what's the criteria here?

[NO-KG-AI]

I agree for the most part^

I think the guys that are a better combination of size/athletic ability at the 7' and up mark than KG is Shaq, Wilt, Robinson. Kareem isn't quite the explosive athlete, but I guess his size probably makes up for it, so he's probably in there too. Hard to not bring up Ralph Sampson as well.

[H2tObes]

Giannis is not 6 foot 9 and a half, I'm actually pretty sure he is the tallest player on our team.

[etopn23]

KG by a lot.

Not sure about that. Like Mattg said KG was more explosive, but Giannis runs the floor as well as a 7 footer possibly could. Don't see how they are all that different athletically

KG is just a much bigger guy. When someone is bigger than you, and more explosive than you, and you don't have an advantage over them anywhere athletically... you're an inferior athlete. They aren't all that different like LeBron and someone at 225 aren't all that different. Size matters.

Don't think Zaza is 7' tall either. He's listed at 6'11 everywhere, which probably means he's 6'10 to 6'10.5, like Giannis. Giannis is smooth as all hell, and plenty explosive himself, I just don't see him being able to go man to man with guys like prime T-Mac for a full game, and completely shut him down, while being close to 7'1 and 250.(He held him to 4 points in a game where he guarded him full time)

KG could match up with, and shut down guys ranging from T-Mac to Amare/Marion in tandem because of other worldly athleticism at his size.

If in 15 years, Giannis has lost a ton of athleticism, but he's still able to be a top tier per minute defender because of his size, coordination, and remaining mobility + motor, we'll talk. Can't see him getting more athletic as he ages, and right now, he doesn't look more athletic than KG was at 245-250. KG had to fall off the cliff athletically, and have multiple knee surgeries and a ton of minutes before he even fell to the tier of merely one of the better athletes as a C/PF.

I remember that game, that's not true at all. McGrady was going through a rough stretch because defenses switched to a zone after the rule changes. Basically, he would be facing double and triple teams whenever he tried to break it, and his teammates were incapable of hitting the shot when he passed.

Garnett didn't mark McGrady, he was the longest guy on the court - they used him in the high post to make it extremely hard for McGrady to find teammates and to come in help side if he managed to create any separation at all.

There's no way they would have kept Garnett on a prime McGrady or Kobe - those guys were way too quick for him regardless of how athletic he was for his size. We're talking about the top 1% of guards to ever play in the NBA. He played excellent help defense, but the Wolves never had him as the primary defender for more than maybe a couple of possessions....

That being said, Garnett was the better athlete IMO.

Here's an ESPN article on that game: http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=231107019

The head to head stats are skewed because Garnett was already a good player while McGrady was a role player in Toronto. There's also multiple games in which McGrady was way past his prime.

[guitarpatch]

better comparison would be Stromile Swift.

[CavaliersFTW]

Giannis is not 6 foot 9 and a half, I'm actually pretty sure he is the tallest player on our team.

At 6 9 and 1/2, that could still be the tallest player on your team. 99% of NBA players exaggerate their heights. Most guys 6-10 or 6-11 on list info are right about 6-9 or 6-9 and 1/2. Heck, some are as short as 6-7 and 3/4 (Kevin Love, who lists 6-10). So, you're starting center listed at 6-11 might be right about 6-9 and 1/2 just like Giannis.

You can declare he isn't all you want but the fact is, he measured 6-9 without shoes in the draft, and eventually a claim was made that he grew "2 inches" which later turned out to be the reporter not understanding his without/with shoes measurements. Giannis did in fact appear to have grown based on the data provided in that article (regardless of the reporters erroneous claim), his height was 6-10 and 3/4 in shoes according to that article. (The reporter subtracted his 6-9 w/o shoes height from this and came up with "2 inches!"... but actually, it was indication he grew a half inch as Giannis measured 6-10 and 1/4 with shoes in the draft). 6-9 and a half is tall. Half an inch taller than Dwight Howard for example. It's perfectly plausible for him to be that height, and still be the tallest or nearly the tallest player on your team. And there is no evidence to suggest he is any taller than that from what I've seen.

[skones]

Giannis is not 6 foot 9 and a half, I'm actually pretty sure he is the tallest player on our team.

At 6 9 and 1/2, that could still be the tallest player on your team. 99% of NBA players exaggerate their heights. Most guys 6-10 or 6-11 on list info are right about 6-9 or 6-9 and 1/2. Heck, some are as short as 6-7 and 3/4 (Kevin Love, who lists 6-10). So, you're starting center listed at 6-11 might be right about 6-9 and 1/2 just like Giannis.

You can declare he isn't all you want but the fact is, he measured 6-9 without shoes in the draft, and eventually a claim was made that he grew "2 inches" which later turned out to be the reporter not understanding his without/with shoes measurements. Giannis did in fact appear to have grown based on the data provided in that article (regardless of the reporters erroneous claim), his height was 6-10 and 3/4 in shoes according to that article. (The reporter subtracted his 6-9 w/o shoes height from this and came up with "2 inches!"... but actually, it was indication he grew a half inch as Giannis measured 6-10 and 1/4 with shoes in the draft). 6-9 and a half is tall. Half an inch taller than Dwight Howard for example. It's perfectly plausible for him to be that height, and still be the tallest or nearly the tallest player on your team. And there is no evidence to suggest he is any taller than that from what I've seen.

I don't know why you're arguing something that has been widely reported by numerous sources INCLUDING the team itself with regards to his height. Play the conspiracy theorist all you want, but I'll go with the guys closer to the situation than yourself.

[skones]

Oh, and Garnett was more explosive, I'll take him.

[CavaliersFTW]

Giannis is not 6 foot 9 and a half, I'm actually pretty sure he is the tallest player on our team.

At 6 9 and 1/2, that could still be the tallest player on your team. 99% of NBA players exaggerate their heights. Most guys 6-10 or 6-11 on list info are right about 6-9 or 6-9 and 1/2. Heck, some are as short as 6-7 and 3/4 (Kevin Love, who lists 6-10). So, you're starting center listed at 6-11 might be right about 6-9 and 1/2 just like Giannis.

You can declare he isn't all you want but the fact is, he measured 6-9 without shoes in the draft, and eventually a claim was made that he grew "2 inches" which later turned out to be the reporter not understanding his without/with shoes measurements. Giannis did in fact appear to have grown based on the data provided in that article (regardless of the reporters erroneous claim), his height was 6-10 and 3/4 in shoes according to that article. (The reporter subtracted his 6-9 w/o shoes height from this and came up with "2 inches!"... but actually, it was indication he grew a half inch as Giannis measured 6-10 and 1/4 with shoes in the draft). 6-9 and a half is tall. Half an inch taller than Dwight Howard for example. It's perfectly plausible for him to be that height, and still be the tallest or nearly the tallest player on your team. And there is no evidence to suggest he is any taller than that from what I've seen.

I don't know why you're arguing something that has been widely reported by numerous sources INCLUDING the team itself with regards to his height. Play the conspiracy theorist all you want, but I'll go with the guys closer to the situation than yourself.

Widely reported? Who's widely reporting what? I can't contest or address anything being reported unless you list/cite specific examples. I can tell you with confidence the NBA lists players like the WWE lists its wrestlers. Larger than life. Widely reporting this larger-than-life listed info is to be expected. Understanding this is not equal to a conspiracy theory, it's just simple marketing. The bigger and taller the players are billed, the better marketed they are even if the truth gets stretched in the process - which it does.

Allow me to cite his measurement data:

6-9 (this is his initial 2013 NBA draft without shoes measurement)
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Gia ... nmpo-7223/

6-9.5 without shoes it even specifically states that's his without shoes height as of the end of last season like I said is tall enough to be the tallest player on many NBA teams
http://www.brewhoop.com/2014/4/21/56287 ... gue-greece

You must understand that pretty much all NBA players measure shorter than they are billed, by a league wide average of about 1 and 1/4 inches. Have a look for yourself:
www.draftexpress.com/measurements

Browse through all the big name players you think you know how tall they are. You'll see Giannis is taller than Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant. He's not a 7 footer though. 6-9 and 1/2. Which is plenty tall. It's not a conspiracy, this data is widely available to those interested in looking.