Many people consider Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to be the best player in the NBA, but he does have a few detractors.
One of them is former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, who claimed Antetokounmpo lacks basketball IQ and hasn’t upgraded his skill sets.
He also criticized the two-time league MVP for playing fewer minutes than other elite players, claiming that Antetokounmpo doesn’t know “how to train his body.”
More recently, Arenas doubled down on his punditry and implied that Antetokounmpo is simply not a smart basketball player by superstar standards.
“Let’s go to the mental side,” he said during a recent episode of his own podcast. “Is he smarter than Chris Paul? Is he smarter than LeBron James? Is he smarter than [Stephen] Curry, Klay [Thompson], Draymond [Green], Kawhi Leonard, [Nikola] Jokic, Luka [Doncic]? If he doesn’t rank number one in that, that’s what I mean.”
Arenas is getting salty with his takes, but does he have a point?
Is Antetokounmpo Really Lacking In Basketball IQ?
When it comes to basketball intelligence, fans seem to have a specific picture in mind that involves players manipulating defenses to either get a teammate open or capitalize on mismatches.
But that isn’t the extent of that ability.
Basketball IQ is also about knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses and doubling down on those strengths.
Martial arts guru Bruce Lee once said that he doesn’t fear the man who practices 1000 kicks once, but he does fear the man who has practiced one kick 1000 times.
Antetokounmpo may not be a good 3-point shooter or post-up player, but the one move he was truly elite at is attacking the rim and scoring, especially in transition.
At 6-foot-11, he has long strides that allow him to cover ground very fast and step around defenders to get to the rim.
Most career PTS in Milwaukee #Bucks history:
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (14,321)^
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (14,211)
3. Glenn Robinson (12,010)
4. Sidney Moncrief (11,594)
5. Michael Redd (11,554)pic.twitter.com/vFFBGeRNvS— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) September 15, 2022
Within three feet from the basket, he is virtually unstoppable, as he made 80.8 percent of such shots last season.
Antetokounmpo took 3.6 3-point attempts last season, which isn’t high among offensive superstars, and it highlights another argument in his favor when it comes to basketball IQ.
Namely, he knows his strengths, and he sticks to them without trying to get outside of them too much.
He took 40.6 percent of his shots from within three feet and just 19.4 percent from downtown last year.
In addition, he is an outstanding defensive player, not just in terms of positional defense but also in terms of shot-blocking, which takes a certain amount of basketball IQ.
Most career BLK in Milwaukee #Bucks history:
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (856)^
2. Alton Lister (804)
3. Harvey Catchings (709)
4. Andrew Bogut (642)
5. John Henson (600)pic.twitter.com/elJcA0KHNm— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) September 15, 2022
Antetokounmpo hasn’t Reached His Mental Peak Yet
Generally speaking, athletes are in their physical prime during the second half of their 20s, but they don’t start to reach their mental or emotional prime until around age 30.
For NBA players, ages 28-32 are seen as the overlap between one’s physical and mental primes, and thanks to the miracles of modern medical science, some men have extended that prime period to age 35 or even later.
Antetokounmpo is currently 27 years of age, which is the point at which players are just starting to approach mastery of the mental or strategic aspect of basketball.
With each passing year, one should expect him to show more resourcefulness and awareness of the minutia of the game which will result in a more well-rounded game.
As it stands, the Greek Freak has dramatically improved his free throw shooting, as he has gone from just 63.3 percent in the 2019-20 season to a more acceptable 72.2 percent last year.
If he ever becomes just an average 3-point shooter and developed a more refined post-up game, the rest of the league won’t have a shot against him.
NEXT: Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Giving It All For His Country