Kareem Abdul-Jabbar revealed that Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has led him to feel somewhat annoyed and frustrated. As NBA fans will know, Kareem Abdul Jabbar also began his NBA career with the Bucks and won a title with them in 1971, before taking his talents to the Los Angeles Lakers.
If there is one player in Bucks history, capable of challenging Kareem’s claim as the best player for the franchise, it is Giannis Antetokounmpo. He won the 2021 NBA title and forced the Boston Celtics to 7 games despite being shorthanded last season.
Giannis also appears to be a funny and nice person. That said, fans should wonder what reason Kareem could feel annoyed towards the Greek Freak and who is to blame for all of this.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar believes Giannis Antetokounmpo changed the dynamics of the game
To make things clearer, Kareem isn’t really angry with Giannis or personally offended. Instead, he is just wishful and lamenting the state of his time when compared to today’s league. As we are aware, Kareem entered the NBA and played during the 1970s and 1980s.
That was a very different era. Not only were the players treated differently, but the coaching style and restriction on playstyle fluidity were also quite strict. Simply put, players would have to stick to their position and largely fulfill the designated role that their size deems worthy.
Therefore, NBA centers from that era were never given the freedom to bring the ball up the court and experiment with new moves. As we all know, Antetokounmpo specializes in pushing the ball ahead in transition and driving it to the rim.
If he played the center position, he would not be allowed to do the same back in Kareem’s era. He would have to rebound the ball and pass it to the shorter guards, who were supposed to handle and facilitate the offense of the team. Kareem shared his feelings after watching Giannis play in this generation.
“I would have liked to have tried to do some of the things that he can do. You get the rebound, you better not try to take it down the other end of the court if you’re a frontline player. That was like gospel when I played and Giannis has blown through all of that and opened the game up. So I’m happy he’s done that, but I’m annoyed that it wasn’t in time for me to get in on the fun.”
Kareem certainly makes a valid point. Unfortunately, we will never know how players in the past would have done, if they were given more freedom and comfort.