Giannis Antetokounmpo Responds to LeBron James’ Comment: ‘It’s Unfair to Compare Two Different Eras’

Following the latest loss of the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, during his post-game interview, Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed a recent comment made by LeBron James. When asked to comment on LeBron’s statement that if Giannis played in the 1970s, he would score 250 (!) points, the Greek star expressed his opinion that comparing two different eras is unfair. “I don’t know, I think it’s the wrong perspective… If I played in the 70s, I’d probably score 275 points, not 250. I’m joking. It’s an incredible compliment, but I don’t like comparing eras. It’s not fair. If I played in the 70s, with the way everyone trained and played, we’d play the same way. That’s what you’d know back then. Over time, the game evolves, and now in 2020, we know more. Players shoot from the center. Towns follows every phase and can take the ball to shoot; he’s a threat. It’s completely different. You can’t compare this period with that era. I wish in the current one I could put up 250 points today, but I don’t think it’s fair to compare since logically, I’d play the same way they did back then,” Giannis stated. He also mentioned how the Bucks have lost three times against the Knicks and how he felt about their most recent game: “They exploited our mistakes. They took 25 more shots than us; in the first half, they had 16. It’s like we walked in and didn’t play the first period. This shows the difference in shooting. You let the opposing team play for the first twelve minutes and then start. We need to do better with the ball, improve our distances. We need to play together more. Ultimately, this is who we are. Obviously, Portis will be back in a few games and will help, as will Jerri. They’ll give Lopez a break. Hopefully, we won’t have more issues, but this is who we are as a team. We need to find ways to get wins. We got back into the game with our offense, hit the three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough. They were stronger, played with more effort than us, and are a better team than us. It’s so simple. When you play a team like them, and they’ve already beaten you twice, you need to come out and play at a higher intensity level. You need to ‘hit’ first, put your body on the line. You need to want it and play with more nerve than them. I don’t think we did that for 48 minutes. We need to do more, maybe we’ll catch them in the Playoffs. Whoever we face there, we must be the toughest team. We must. This is our only chance.” When questioned if the Bucks can become tougher as a team in the coming weeks, Antetokounmpo replied: “The last six years, I’ve been part of the best Eastern Conference team three times, I think. It doesn’t matter. I’ve played against Toronto in the Eastern Finals and beat them without them winning a game in the regular season. We’ve played against the best Eastern Conference team but lost to Miami, which was eighth and reached the finals. The only thing to think about is that we have the regular season, nine games left, and then two months to change our lives. We need to focus for two months, stay healthy, and go there to compete. That’s what we need to think about. What happened in December, whether we lost to the Knicks or Boston, doesn’t matter much now. When you enter the Playoffs, anything can happen. If you’re focused for 48 minutes, anything can happen. I’ve been part of that many times.” Lastly, speaking about how the Bucks prepare for the remaining games given the absences, Giannis said: “Just approaching the game. Building good habits, watching video. You need to watch a lot of video. Obviously, the Playoffs are 18 days away or however long. When we get there, we’ll figure it out. Now, we need to think about how we’ll play against Atlanta.”