Heading into his fifth season in the league, All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has garnered a tremendous amount of respect along with a huge level of expectations that many believe he can become a serious candidate for the MVP award.
Antetokounmpo’s performance on the court has also caught the attention of both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who both recently voiced much praise toward the 22-year-old, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
LeBron, you’re a four-time MVP. What do you think?
“I think at the end of the day, it’s all about team success. That’s what we all want,” James said. “But he has the skillset, he has the talent and he has a great coach that can help him get to that point.”
And you, Dwyane Wade, a former Finals MVP, who’s playing his fifth season alongside James. What say you of Antetokounmpo?
“Obviously you could tell he’s put in a lot of work to his game,” Wade said. “He’s got the confidence early on from his coach when everyone was saying he couldn’t shoot, he couldn’t do this or that, his coach gave him a lot of confidence and his teammates believed in him. It took his confidence to another level. He’s at that point now where he’s just figuring it out. He’s being nasty. He’s dunking everything down by the rim.”
This comes off a career-best season from Antetokounmpo where he averaged career highs across the board with 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game. All of this helped him earn his first All-Star selection, an All-NBA Second Team mention, and the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.