Has Giannis Lost His Likability?

Sports Illustrated

Giannis Antetokounmpo was livid about the game ball in Bucks win over the Pacers, with some questioning whether it had an impact on his overall likability.

Transcript

00:00 Giannis was doing too much about the game ball.

00:02 You know, I'm not gonna be with everybody on social media

00:05 saying all of a sudden he's completely unlikable,

00:07 but, you know, I don't know if he needed to cause that scene.

00:10 - I think he's definitely lost some of his likability.

00:14 One, the free throw line thing became a big issue.

00:18 Like, people were like, "Bro, you're not about to spend

00:19 five minutes at the free throw line."

00:21 I think it also didn't help the fact that

00:23 he's being criticized for not being that skilled of a player

00:26 more just as a physical opponent

00:28 who just runs up and down the court.

00:30 Having James Harn say that didn't help at all.

00:33 And, what makes matters worse,

00:34 he's won a championship now.

00:35 So it's just like you've elevated to a different stratosphere

00:38 where the expectation is like,

00:39 "All right, you've won one, but can you win two?

00:41 Can you win three?

00:42 And can you be an all-time great player?"

00:43 So he's clearly gifted,

00:45 but the charm of the international player

00:48 that kind of just spoke his mind,

00:50 I feel like it's starting to wear off.

00:52 - Well, look, the guy's a monster.

00:53 There, you know, we can talk about skills and everything,

00:55 but that used to be a criticism of Shaq

00:57 back in the day, too.

00:58 And in some ways, Giannis is the modern day version

01:02 of Shaquille O'Neal.

01:03 But, you know, simply doing the dad jokes,

01:06 that standup routine,

01:08 isn't gonna carry his entire reputation,

01:11 you know, going forward.

01:13 - See, I don't even like this Shaq comparison

01:14 because Shaq was still gifted with his skills.

01:17 His footwork was superb.

01:19 Like, what he could do in the post was superb.

01:21 Yes, he was physically gifted to where it didn't matter,

01:23 but he was still a very skilled player.

01:25 Giannis, to me, has still lacked the skillful part

01:28 of his game in a lot of ways.

01:30 But other than that, I just feel like

01:32 it's one of those things,

01:33 like he's no longer the new kid on the block.

01:35 So you've kind of just sat in,

01:36 so it's easier to criticize you as opposed to praise him.

01:40 - But that's a little unfair

01:41 'cause Giannis could handle the rock and drive and kick.

01:44 Shaq couldn't do all that.

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