Giannis Antetokounmpo named 2019-2020 NBA Most Valuable Player

[murksiderock]

With this second MVP, its now official, Giannis is on Legacy Watch the remainder of his career, regardless of how much longer he plays...

Kawhi is as well for different reasons that I'll address in another thread....

Only 14 guys have won 2+ MVPs. Granted, those 14 guys have won 69% of the MVPs----only 20 guys outside of those 14 have won an MVP----but with 2+ Giannis is now in a lane of rarefied air...

Of the other 5 guys who have 2 MVPs:

•Duncan is generally seen as a Top 10 All-Timer and considered by most to be the greatest 4 ever and one of the GOAT defensive bigs...

In his prime he was a 21/12 guy who shot 51%, never missed the playoffs, and led his team to 4 championships (4-0 Finals as a #1 in his prime) and six WCF (4-2)...

•Mailman is generally regarded as a Top 15-16 All-Timer. Was widely seen as the GOAT 4 before Duncan...

In his prime was a 27/11 guy shooting 53%, never missed the postseason and led his team to two Finals (0-2) and five WCF (2-3). Probably the #3 guy of 90s basketball who some could argue as #2...

•As of right now, Steph is generally seen as a Top 20-25 All-Timer, seen as the GOAT shooter, and most people have him at minimum as a Top 4 point ever...

 

[murksiderock]

In his prime he's a 26/7/5 guy shooting 48/43/91, has led his team to three championships (1 as a #1 with a Finals record as a #1 of 1-1), and five WCF (2-0 as a #1)...

•Pettit is generally considered a Top 30 All-Timer and the original GOAT big after Mikan...

In his prime was a 26/16 guy who led his team to four Finals (1-3) and eight conference finals (4-4)...

•Nash is generally seen as a Top 35 All-Timer, one of the GOAT shooters, and a Top 6-7 point...

In his prime was a 17/10 guy on 50/44/91 shooting who led his team to three WCF (0-3); also got to a WCF with Dallas...

..........

This is a damn high bar, and to me its the standard I think Giannis will rightfully begin being compared to. If he retired right now, he isn’t a Top 50 player despite the two MVPs and DPOY, which is somewhat of an indictment on his total impact as a player. Only Nash and Malone didn't win at least one championship, but both got to 4+ conference finals. All of these guys have legacy points in their favor that Giannis doesn't have yet...

Disappearing in playoff basketball isn't unique to just Giannis, but for him, he's got to stop doing that like yesterday, meaning this season has to be the very last season he doesn’t show up on the bigger stage. The honeymoon is over, the excuses are over, you don't get to rack up MVPs and DPOYs and chump out in the postseason...

And I'll be honest, before the pandemic I was mostly optimistic he could turn it up in the playoffs until I saw his March performance in LA. After watching his bubble game vs the Rockets, and his performance vs Miami, my optimism has turned to pessimism, I'm not positive he has another gear. He's still young and only approaching Year 8, but it shouldn't take this long to see it. He is now more decorated than guys like West and Nowitzki after only 7 years...

The bar is officially raised...