Giannis Antetokounmpo is a separate man

The real frown reaches its peak behind the practitioner. He is quick to laugh but also quick to get angry. When he came into the league, there were suggestions that perhaps he should play point guard, and he still had the point guard instinct to include his teammates. But he had to do a lot on his own.

As a junior, he had nineteen unassisted dives; Five years later, he had more than a hundred. So far this year, he’s averaged over twenty points in the paint while playing just over thirty minutes a game. He hits nearly eighty percent of his shots within five feet of the rim. Many of them, amazingly, lead dives. It is a team in itself. Friday night, against the Chicago Bulls, he scored forty-one points to go with fifteen rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and two blocks. No one has more influence on the court right now than Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks have played math for a long time, trying to take advantage of Antetokounmpo’s efficiency. But since winning that title in 2021, the team has not returned to the Eastern Conference Finals, let alone the Finals. The Bucks were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for three consecutive years. Antetokounmpo, once criticized for poor shooting, shot better than sixty percent from the field in consecutive seasons. But the team’s front office had difficulty finding the right people to fit him, and the coaches had difficulty creating space on the floor for him to move.

This past offseason was a strange one for the Bucks. After a quick exit from the playoffs, there were rumors that Antetokounmpo would be the latest NBA star to request a trade. As training camp got underway, the rumors became more specific: He was eyeing the New York Knicks as a potential destination, people claimed. He was frank when asked about it: “I’ve said this many times: I want to be in a position where I can win,” he told the press. He added: “I’m limited to everything in front of me. Now, if I change my mind in six or seven months, I think that’s a human thing too.”

The right to change one’s mind is not a blessing often given to professional athletes — nor to the rest of us, for that matter. The public record is what it is, and the commitment is framed as an all-or-nothing proposition. But Antetokounmpo entered this season with a display of power and dominance that was remarkable even from him. In the offseason, the Bucks underpriced All-Star Damian Lillard and transferred some of that money to Turner, and they acquired a pair of guards: Ryan Rollins, a second-year second-round pick, and Cole Anthony, a talented player whose progress with his former team, the Orlando Magic, appeared to have stalled. Rollins was a great defender and the Bucks’ second-leading scorer, and Anthony showed a feel for moving the ball to the right place. Turner, who is six-foot-eleven and can shoot the three, flies to create space, and sharp-shooting AJ Green complements Antetokounmpo’s paint game by staying beyond the three-point arc. Every player has a goal. But it only works for Antetokounmpo. When he’s on the court, the Bucks have one of the best offenses in the league. When he’s off the field, they stink.

You can say that about a lot of stars, that’s what makes them stars. Denver Nuggets are nothing without Nikola Jokic; LeBron James has, for decades, been a team unto itself. But Antetokounmpo’s burden looks different. There is a loneliness in him that he cannot or does not want to shake. Two of his brothers are now teammates, and he defends the rest of the Bucks as if they were his brothers, too. After the game against the Pacers, he explained his reaction to the crowd’s taunts as an act of generosity toward Turner, who was an important part of the team that knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs just a few months ago. “I was just trying to show camaraderie and encouragement to my teammates,” Antetokounmpo said. “If you really think about it, four or five months ago he was the one who blocked my shot and pushed me to the ground.” He added: “I respected him when I played against him, and now that he is my teammate, I feel a lot of love for him.” Maybe so. However, as I watched other Bucks players attack Antetokounmpo after that whistle — as he stared into the middle distance, looking almost oblivious to his teammates clinging to his shoulders, fingers to his lips as boos rained down — I couldn’t help but think that he still looked like a detached man. ♦