Russell Westbrook loooves this shot. Since his MVP season, Westbrook has taken more tie or go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minute of games than any other NBA player. His stats on those shots:
8-for-42 19.0 3FG%
(via @stathead) https://twitter.com/tomhaberstroh/status/1456600950307758082?s=21
He and the Suns came out of nowhere and killed it going 74-28 in 2021 and getting to the Finals along the way. He passed Steve Nash to get to 3rd all-time in assists and became the only player to ever get 20,000 points and 10,000 assists.
It would've been amazing if he capped if off by winning the finals but it's been an incredible year for he and the Suns regardless, going way beyond anybody's expectations.
This is Giannis' resume in just a 12 month span. You could ignore all the other years played and Giannis would still have the accolades of a Hall of Famer with just his performance in this time span. You could argue Giannis is more accomplished than guys like Chris Bosh, who is a Hall Of Famer, in just this 1 year time frame. That is absolutely insane.
Reference tweet: https://twitter.com/KingFavre/status/1428382054731894794?s=19
It's hard to argue that Giannis isn't currently the best player in basketball. I get he doesn't fit the prototype the past "best players" were part of, such as clutch jumpshooting, etc. But you simply can't ignore these achievements that he has garnered in such a short amount of time. And if he's not the "best" player in your opinion, then he for sure has been the greatest player in basketball for the past couple years.
So how do I get the star instead of 3 next to my name?
The last to do it was Magic. In recent years there have been plenty of talented rookies just not ones been drafted to good teams.
What do you guys think ?
The last player and only player to do this was Hakeem in 1993.
Giannis came close last year. He got everything except a championship and Finals MVP.
Lebron came close in 12-13 and in 11-12 but he didn’t get DPOY (he came 2nd in 12-13 and 4th in 11-12)
Garnett got all in 07-08 except MVP and Finals MVP (came 3rd in MVP voting and 2nd in FMVP voting)
MJ got all awards in 87-88 except Championship and Finals MVP.
You think we will see any more seasons like that?
In my mind, Magic and Steph are unanimous 1 and 2 (although feel free to argue differently). I think as currently stands, the 3rd-9thth best point guards ever are Oscar, Stockton, CP3, Isiah, Westbrook, Nash, Kidd in some order (Not counting West or Iverson as PGs). How would you rank them if CP3 is able to win the Finals and get Finals MVP?
My rankings if that happens:
- Magic Johnson
3x MVP, 9x All NBA First Team, 10x All NBA, 12x All Star, 5x NBA Champion, 3x Finals MVP
- Steph Curry
2x MVP, 4x All NBA First Team, 6x All NBA, 7x All Star, 3x NBA Champion
3a) Chris Paul
4x All NBA First Team, 10x All NBA, 11x All Star, 7x All Defensive 1st Team, 9x All Defensive NBA, 1x NBA Champion**, 1x Finals MVP**
3b) Oscar Robertson
1x MVP, 9x All NBA First Team, 11x All NBA, 12x All Star, 1x NBA Champion
5) John Stockton
2x All NBA First Team, 11x All NBA, 10x All Star, 5x All Defensive Team
6) Isiah Thomas
2x All NBA First Team, 5x All NBA, 12x All Star, 2x NBA Champion, 1x Finals MVP
7) Steve Nash
2x MVP, 3x All NBA First Team, 7x All NBA, 8x All Star
8) Russell Westbrook
1x MVP, 2x All NBA First Team, 9x All NBA, 9x All Star
9) Jason Kidd
5x All NBA First Team, 6x All NBA, 4x All Defensive 1st Team, 9x All Defensive NBA, 1x NBA Champion
On this date, this former NBA star played his last ever NBA regular season game. It was an excellent NBA career that interestingly enough, didn't start off well. He was once dratted by the Celtics but they gave up on him early. He bounced around the league, was seen as a bust by then. But he settled in this NBA home before finally establishing himself as a star, even winning a finals MVP for them. He ended his NBA career with five All-Star appearances but what he's known for the most is his ability to come up clutch. He definitely fit that billings of a clutch player and has the finals MVP trophy to prove it. Who is this former NBA star?
Emphasis on different players. Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria) won all three major awards in the 1994 season which is obviously a greater individual feat. However, one super dominant international player is not as much of a testament to the diversity of the league as three different dominant international players.
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Nikola Jokic (Serbia) won the 2021 Most Valuable Player award.
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Rudy Gobert (France) won the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year award.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) won the 2021 Finals Most Valuable Player award.
Additionally,
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Joel Embiid (Cameroon) was the runner-up for the 2021 Most Valuable Player award.
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Ben Simmons (Australia) was the runner-up for the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Other international MVPs and why their seasons do not qualify:
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Steve Nash (Canada): In 2005, Nash won MVP but Ben Wallace (USA) won DPOY. In 2006, Nash won MVP but Ben Wallace (USA) won DPOY.
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Dirk Nowitzki (Germany): In 2007, Dirk won MVP but Marcus Camby (USA) won DPOY. Some argue that Tim Duncan deserved DPOY this season. If he had won, then this season arguably would've qualified (Tony Parker won Finals MVP), depending on whether or not you consider Tim Duncan to be an international player.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece): In 2019, Giannis won MVP and Rudy Gobert (France) won DPOY. However, Kawhi Leonard (USA) won Finals MVP. In 2020, Giannis won both MVP and DPOY while LeBron James (USA) won Finals MVP.
With Lebron being named Finals MVP this series. He’s the first player to win finals MVP with three different teams (Cleveland, Miami, LA Lakers)
Congrats to King James
https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/finals_mvp.html
I think we can pretty much unanimously agree that the greatest PF of all time is Tim Duncan.
But I also think most of us can also agree that the other 4 best PFs are:
You could make an argument for Dennis Rodman but in my opinion he doesn’t compete with these other 4 legends.
So I must ask… where do you think Giannis places in terms of the top 5? Obviously he is still very young, but that’s why I personally think he’s the 2nd greatest ever, and this is coming from a Timberwolves fan.
No other player in history besides Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James have done what Giannis has at age 26.
In conclusion. If I were to rank these 5 players, I would go:
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Tim Duncan
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Giannis Antetokounmpo
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Kevin Garnett
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Karl Malone
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Dirk Nowitzki
https://youtu.be/EFTY-6sk3iA
Spectacular watching Giannis get this championship! Seen a lot of comparisons with other players resume's particularly Power Forwards after this great achievement but the guy everyone keeps missing and the very first player I thought of was Bob Pettit! Very similar resume's to this point in their careers. Pettit - 2 MVP's and and a 50 point closing game to win the chip makes their early careers very similar to this point!
Michael Jordan Giannis Antetokounmpo
*Also probably including Bill Russell, (edit:Wilt Chamberlain), and George Mikan if all the above awards existed at the time.
Since at least 2019 the NBA has released an every NBA Finals MVP video (i.e. https://streamable.com/x4a40h) showing clips & highlights from past Finals MVPs since 1969 to present.
I think the NFL should do the same. The NBA does & I think it's awesome. It would be a good idea for NFL because it would expose younger fans to older legends as well as teach them some NFL team Championship history.
YT Link ( for anyone interested): https://youtu.be/DBVMPz7NCsA
Edit: If they don't I might just do it myself
