An unfortunate truth that has become increasingly evident this season is that LeBron James probably isn’t the best player in the NBA any longer. Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks as “The Greek Freak” makes his own case for that title.
Antetokounmpo has a particularly concerning set of skills that the Lakers, as currently constituted, are not at all that well-equipped to deal with. Giannis has made more shots (459) from within five feet of the basket than any other player in the league, and the gap between him and second place (Andre Drummond, 360) is larger than that between second and 18th (Nikola Jokic, 262).