NBA All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo appreciated the compliment from LeBron James but disagreed with it.
During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show this week, James said Antetokounmpo would average 50 points if he played in the 1970s. Antetokounmpo downplayed the comments.
"I don't know about that take," Antetokounmpo said. "I think it's an own take. I think if I played in the `70s, it would probably be more like 75, not 50. I'm joking. Great compliment but I don't like comparing eras. It's not fair."
Giannis on LeBron saying he'd score 250 points in a 1970s game:
"It's wrong take…probably more 275 😆 I'm joking. Great compliment. But I don't like comparing eras. It's not fair. If I played in the 70s, how everybody practiced & played, we'd play same way…The game evolves…" pic.twitter.com/p3rtCK38nj
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 29, 2025
James followed a popular narrative of today's players being bigger, faster and stronger. Antetokounmpo refused to feed into because he thinks it's unfair to compare eras.
He feels the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were great players regardless of when they played. Kudos to Antetokounmpo because it's a rarity for today's generation to have this take. It's the same for the older generation, which often thinks it's era was far superior because of more physical play.
"If I played in the `70s, how everybody practiced and how everybody played, we would have played the same way," Antetokounmpo said. "That's all you knew at the time. The game evolves and we got to 2020 and we know more. People shoot the ball from halfcourt ... It's totally different, so you cannot compare this era with that era."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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