}~~~> Official 2024/2025 NBA Thread<~~~{ OKC Thunder NBA champs}
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That is not "dunks over."
Right. But I’m not surprised because folks believe that a defender can get dunked on if he’s behind the dunker trying to block that shit.
Ehh…This could be true but I also think that the opportunity to live in California with his wife and kids played a bigger part.
Iverson is saying Shaq I think because he played against him; Those players you name, outside of Jokic, was well before Iverson time; and I aint taking Jokic over Shaq ever...
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Iverson if he does this right, he could be just like Shaq as far as Endorsement deals; shit, he could be an ambassador for the NBA; dude could be on the league committe for helping all these young players; he has a lottery ticket in front of him if he does this right; and if he wants to go this route...
@playahaitian @jack walsh13 @jawnswoop
Most triple-doubles in NBA history:
- Russell Westbrook*: 203 triple-doubles
- Oscar Robertson: 181 triple-doubles
- Nikola Jokić*: 164 triple-doubles
- Magic Johnson: 138 triple-doubles
- LeBron James*: 122 triple-doubles
- Jason Kidd: 107 triple-doubles
- Luka Dončić*: 82 triple-doubles
- James Harden*: 80 triple-doubles
- Wilt Chamberlain: 78 triple-doubles
- Domantas Sabonis*: 68 triple-doubles
- Larry Bird: 59 triple-doubles
- Giannis Antetokounmpo*: 56 triple-doubles
Offense is not the whole game but the difference between them defensively is not big enough to offset the massive difference in offensive ability.
Im not a triple double fan because that stat has more to do with one controlling the ball than anything; its like people minimizing Steph because he doesnt get a lot of assists or doesnt have high assist numbers as other pgs; well he would if Kerr dumb ass would put the ball in his hands more!! so ive seen Russ get triple doubles and didnt affect the game at all in terms of winning! Im taking Shaq over Jokic any day of the week! and one on one Shaq will kill Jokic; Jokic could do nothing with Shaq; and in game, i think a prime Shaq would completely dominate Jokic and it wouldnt be close...
I cant believe he said that lol lol; i mean come on dude; you cant be dumb enough to say that, just cant be...
I think only 2 teams in the west that are clearly better than the GS; or should I say that should be better and thats OKC and Denver; outside of those 2, GS is right there; and if they can stay healthy, big if, they will compete and I think can hold their own against those 2 in the playoffs
Who was the best center Shaq faced in his threepeat years— Vlade Divac??? Young Shaq got handled by Hakeem and after Olajuwon and Ewing got old there was only the last legs of David Robinson partnered with a young Tim Duncan to deal with.
Shaq never saw anyone like Jokic and he would have some bbq chicken moments in the paint but 3 is worth more than 2 and Jokic is a point center who creates more points and has no liability comparable to the embarrassing free throw deficiency that used to get Shaq benched in crunch time.
It would be an offensive slugfest because neither could stop the other. But Joker is arguably the best shooting AND best passing big man in history— I think LAL era Shaq would be fatigued as fuck guarding him from the 3 point line to the paint.
Jokic defense is awful at best! He is an offensive force for sure; he would get killed by Shaq; wouldnt even be close; Shaq would dominant him in the paint; Let Jokic shoot those 3s all he wants; he wouldnt have no legs because Shaq would kill him in the post; so those 3s aint falling; im taking a prime Shaq all day every day against any form of Jokic...
@M.H.C.
SShaq dominated against plumbers… The way people talk about him, you would think he averaged 50 points for a season like Wilt. THE DUDE NEVER EVEN AVERAGED 30… this is straight mythology you are pushing. He was a big strong mfer who was out of shape in his prime years and couldn’t hit a free throw. Not even close to Jokic’s level.
Jokic feet is the feet of plumbers...
How is Shaq the most dominant player ever when Kobe and MJ put up 30 point seasons from midrange and he never did that once playing a foot away from the basket?
The guy had some ferocious dunks. But those are moments, not what he was consistently. His entire legacy is fraudulent.
Dude you are adding adjectives in the conversation that was never there; i never said Shaq was the most dominant player ever! im not sure where you even getting that from; Shaq would dominant Jokic for sure though; i dont think anyone would say otherwise...
I wasn’t quoting you on that— that lazy, underachieving mfer Shaq has the audacity to refer to himself as the most dominant ever and many people repeat that, notably in the press.
Just search it on google, I didn’t pull that out of my ass.
I just said otherwise several times!!! Shaq would get 20 something and might have a couple highlight dunks but Jokic would create more points on the other end and win the match-up.
You saying otherwise doesn’t mean nothing lol. When I’m saying others im talking about people who played the game! Outside of Kerr dumb ass comment about Jokic, I haven’t seen anyone say or think he’s better than Shaq…
A lot of people who play the game have shit for brains when it comes to history and analysis.
@jawnswoop
@therealjondoe
To be continued.
If three-word columns were a thing in sports media (note to the TLDR crowd: they’re not), that’s the easiest way to explain the current status of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s complicated relationship with the Milwaukee Bucks. We’ve been tracking this situation for half a decade now, with the themes remaining mostly unchanged when it comes to Antetokounmpo and why he might ever think about leaving the only NBA city he has ever known.
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Championship aspirations. An insatiable desire for greatness. A looming question about whether he can still achieve such things if he stays put.
Yet while the Bucks went to great lengths to quiet the noise created by a recent ESPN report on Wednesday, when coach Doc Rivers took his favorite nothing-to-see-here approach with the media and Antetokounmpo made it clear that he’s completely locked in (for at least six months), the truth here is that this was not nothing. Not even close.
Sloppy and ill-timed though it might have been, with Antetokounmpo’s interest in joining the New York Knicks revealed after their failed trade talks with the Bucks in August, this was nothing short of an escalation. And it doesn’t really matter who caused it.
What does matter — in terms of the dynamics of this dilemma going forward — is that the NBA world has more intel about this situation now than was known before. For starters, this confirms once and for all that Antetokounmpo — at 30 years old, four years removed from his lone title and with two seasons left on his deal — has a wandering eye.
“Temptation,” as he explained it.
That doesn’t mean he has fallen out of love with the city of Milwaukee or that he has lost total faith in Bucks ownership or management. But just like the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James in late June, when he expressed concern about their ability to contend for a title by way of a statement from his agent, this is a case of a star player reading the room in the offseason only to realize, in the end, that getting to greener pastures isn’t so easy in today’s NBA.
The timing of it all was nothing short of absurd, with the Bucks and Knicks talking at a time when the odds of a deal actually happening were minuscule because of a choice the Knicks had made just weeks before
They should have done it in June,” said one league source close to the situation, who was granted anonymity so that he could speak freely.
When the Knicks gave small forward Mikal Bridges a four-year, $150 million extension in late July, that meant he couldn’t be traded for six months. That matters a great deal because any Bucks-Knicks deal for Antetokounmpo, however unlikely, would have to be focused on actual players as opposed to draft assets because the Knicks don’t have much to offer on that front (largely because of the deal they did to land Bridges from Brooklyn in July 2024 and the deal with Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns three months later). Bridges could be in a Bucks deal if this gets revisited before the February trade deadline, but his exclusion this time around all but guaranteed this was going nowhere.
Team sources have made it clear that Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was, as expected, untouchable in these talks. In terms of possible players being involved, the common sense lens turns toward Towns, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson from there.
But even if the Bucks had interest in a package involving several of those players, the Knicks are known to have concerns about the possible roster imbalance that could result from a deal of this magnitude. That doesn’t mean they don’t have interest — they absolutely do — but we’ve seen plenty of proof these past few years that Antetokounmpo’s impact alone simply isn’t enough. As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers showed in the finals, depth and diversity of talent is the modern-day way to the mountaintop.
All of which is to say that the Knicks, who were quite perturbed by the tumult caused by this latest report, appear fully focused on making a legitimate title run with this group. Whatever happens next, from their standpoint, will depend greatly on whether they’re able to live up to their own lofty expectations in the season to come.
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For Antetokounmpo’s part, it was quite impressive to see him walk the line between admitted angst and appeasement during his session with the media. He didn’t run from the reports about his concerns, saying (accurately) that it’s only human for someone to want what’s best for themselves and their family. But in stark contrast to so many star player sagas that have come before, from Dwight Howard to Jimmy Butler, James Harden and the like, he made it abundantly clear that his professionalism would not wane.
“I believe in this team,” he told reporters. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go, and it’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. So, all the other extra stuff does not matter.”
It’s fair to wonder if the mixed messaging that took place between Antetokounmpo and Bucks owner Wes Edens on media day might have sparked this latest turn of events. Edens’ choice to tell reporters that Antetokounmpo had expressed his commitment to the Bucks in a recent meeting was dicey, if only because it ran the risk of putting added public pressure on the franchise’s star to stay. Antetokounmpo, in turn, claimed he didn’t recall the meeting at all.
When a superstar of this magnitude is clearly contemplating his future, it’s probably best to let him speak for himself. It should surprise no one that Antetokounmpo focused so heavily on his right to change his mind when he addressed the situation on Wednesday.
But the reality here is that the season to come will (mostly) determine what comes next. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks need to see if this group has any chance of contending in the East, with the mood sure to change depending on the answer to that question. Ditto for the Knicks and their title hopes. The rest of the league, meanwhile, will be ready to pounce if the Giannis sweepstakes ever become a real thing.
For now, it’s “tbd” all around.
@therealjondoe
The Giannis Antetokounmpo trade saga, and New York Knicks’ interest, is just on hold
To be continued.
If three-word columns were a thing in sports media (note to the TLDR crowd: they’re not), that’s the easiest way to explain the current status of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s complicated relationship with the Milwaukee Bucks. We’ve been tracking this situation for half a decade now, with the themes remaining mostly unchanged when it comes to Antetokounmpo and why he might ever think about leaving the only NBA city he has ever known.
Advertisement
Championship aspirations. An insatiable desire for greatness. A looming question about whether he can still achieve such things if he stays put.
Yet while the Bucks went to great lengths to quiet the noise created by a recent ESPN report on Wednesday, when coach Doc Rivers took his favorite nothing-to-see-here approach with the media and Antetokounmpo made it clear that he’s completely locked in (for at least six months), the truth here is that this was not nothing. Not even close.
Sloppy and ill-timed though it might have been, with Antetokounmpo’s interest in joining the New York Knicks revealed after their failed trade talks with the Bucks in August, this was nothing short of an escalation. And it doesn’t really matter who caused it.
What does matter — in terms of the dynamics of this dilemma going forward — is that the NBA world has more intel about this situation now than was known before. For starters, this confirms once and for all that Antetokounmpo — at 30 years old, four years removed from his lone title and with two seasons left on his deal — has a wandering eye.
“Temptation,” as he explained it.
That doesn’t mean he has fallen out of love with the city of Milwaukee or that he has lost total faith in Bucks ownership or management. But just like the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James in late June, when he expressed concern about their ability to contend for a title by way of a statement from his agent, this is a case of a star player reading the room in the offseason only to realize, in the end, that getting to greener pastures isn’t so easy in today’s NBA.
The timing of it all was nothing short of absurd, with the Bucks and Knicks talking at a time when the odds of a deal actually happening were minuscule because of a choice the Knicks had made just weeks before
They should have done it in June,” said one league source close to the situation, who was granted anonymity so that he could speak freely.
When the Knicks gave small forward Mikal Bridges a four-year, $150 million extension in late July, that meant he couldn’t be traded for six months. That matters a great deal because any Bucks-Knicks deal for Antetokounmpo, however unlikely, would have to be focused on actual players as opposed to draft assets because the Knicks don’t have much to offer on that front (largely because of the deal they did to land Bridges from Brooklyn in July 2024 and the deal with Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns three months later). Bridges could be in a Bucks deal if this gets revisited before the February trade deadline, but his exclusion this time around all but guaranteed this was going nowhere.
Team sources have made it clear that Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was, as expected, untouchable in these talks. In terms of possible players being involved, the common sense lens turns toward Towns, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson from there.
But even if the Bucks had interest in a package involving several of those players, the Knicks are known to have concerns about the possible roster imbalance that could result from a deal of this magnitude. That doesn’t mean they don’t have interest — they absolutely do — but we’ve seen plenty of proof these past few years that Antetokounmpo’s impact alone simply isn’t enough. As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers showed in the finals, depth and diversity of talent is the modern-day way to the mountaintop.
All of which is to say that the Knicks, who were quite perturbed by the tumult caused by this latest report, appear fully focused on making a legitimate title run with this group. Whatever happens next, from their standpoint, will depend greatly on whether they’re able to live up to their own lofty expectations in the season to come.
Advertisement
For Antetokounmpo’s part, it was quite impressive to see him walk the line between admitted angst and appeasement during his session with the media. He didn’t run from the reports about his concerns, saying (accurately) that it’s only human for someone to want what’s best for themselves and their family. But in stark contrast to so many star player sagas that have come before, from Dwight Howard to Jimmy Butler, James Harden and the like, he made it abundantly clear that his professionalism would not wane.
“I believe in this team,” he told reporters. “I believe in my teammates. I’m here to lead this team to wherever we can go, and it’s definitely going to be hard. We’re going to take it day by day, but I’m here. So, all the other extra stuff does not matter.”
It’s fair to wonder if the mixed messaging that took place between Antetokounmpo and Bucks owner Wes Edens on media day might have sparked this latest turn of events. Edens’ choice to tell reporters that Antetokounmpo had expressed his commitment to the Bucks in a recent meeting was dicey, if only because it ran the risk of putting added public pressure on the franchise’s star to stay. Antetokounmpo, in turn, claimed he didn’t recall the meeting at all.
When a superstar of this magnitude is clearly contemplating his future, it’s probably best to let him speak for himself. It should surprise no one that Antetokounmpo focused so heavily on his right to change his mind when he addressed the situation on Wednesday.
But the reality here is that the season to come will (mostly) determine what comes next. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks need to see if this group has any chance of contending in the East, with the mood sure to change depending on the answer to that question. Ditto for the Knicks and their title hopes. The rest of the league, meanwhile, will be ready to pounce if the Giannis sweepstakes ever become a real thing.
For now, it’s “tbd” all around.
Yeah, he's testing the waters but putting more pressure on the bucks to either get right or he'll leave.
True dat..
Funny and true ...bad bitched dont make great athletes
There are NBA veterans... and then there’s Kevin Garnett.From the 72-10 Bulls to the 73-9 Warriors, KG’s career was a living timeline of basketball greatness.Drafted straight outta high school, he went toe-to-toe with prime MJ, battled peak Shaq and traded buckets with Kobe. He survived prime LeBron, and watched the Warriors dynasty rise before his eyes.Few players ever touched every era like Garnett did. KG’s seen it all, and he left his mark on every chapter
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