“Giannis Antetokounmpo is a longer, taller version of LeBron James!”: Colin Cowherd announces highly controversial take on who Bucks superstar most resembles

Arun Sharma | 03/05/2022
"Giannis Antetokounmpo is a longer, taller version of LeBron James!": Colin Cowherd announces highly controversial take on who Bucks superstar most resembles

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a great player no doubt – but calling him a better version of LeBron James is atrocious.

Giannis is looking more and more like the superstar capable of being the face of the league. Yes, LeBron James and Kevin Durant still play, but they’re no spring chickens. They’re coming to the fag end of their career, and someone has to take over. Many pipped Luka Doncic or Ja Morant to do it, but the Greek Freak has them beat.

But becoming the face of the league does not mean one becomes the better version of Bron. Giannis is great, but he’s not hitting those fadeaway turnaround jump shots, passing like a sniper, or making long-range shots look like a paper toss. He may be good, but there are levels to this game.

Even Giannis would probably accept that there is some distance between the two. Saying Giannis is the best closer because he can score from anywhere is the highest level of recency bias. One series against the Celtics, and everyone forgot the narratives they had for Kevin Durant winning the MVP.

Also Read: “You know what? Get rid of Charles Barkley, give me Giannis Antetokounmpo”: Scottie Pippen picks his all-time starting five, including some big-name players

Giannis Antetokounmpo is closer to being a better Shaquille O’Neal – not a LeBron James

The run and dunk man no longer is just a one-trick pony – he is deceptively clever. The first game against the Celtics showed his facilitator side, something he had to do because his shooting was not up to the mark. This ability to switch up styles of play on the fly is something that makes him great in today’s version of the game.

But that does not make him a better version of the man from Akron. It makes him similar to a 4-time champion, but his name is Shaquille O’Neal. Big Shaq always dominated the same way Giannis does on most nights. If Shaq could shoot free throws, and stay fit, he would be Giannis. Even Colin Cowherd thought the same a couple of years ago, guess he just forgot.

Shaq said it himself, that one player that resembles his playstyle most is the Milwaukee talisman. What he does with his career, every fan is waiting to see. He already has one championship in the bag, could he get more?

Also Read: “This is going to be LeBron James’ league in a little while!”: What Tim Duncan Told The Cavs Superstar After Sweeping Them in 2007

Post Edited By: Tonoy Sengupta
Giannis Antetokounmpo LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers Milwaukee Bucks

About the author

Arun Sharma

Arun Sharma is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. A double degree holder and a digital marketer by trade, Arun has always been a sports buff. He fell in love with the sport of basketball at a young age and has been a Lakers fan since 2006. What started as a Kobe Bryant obsession slowly turned into a lifelong connection with the purple and gold. Arun has been an ardent subscriber to the Mamba mentality and has shed tears for a celebrity death only once in his life. He believes January 26, 2020, was the turning point in the passage of time because Kobe was the glue holding things together. From just a Lakers bandwagoner to a basketball fanatic, Arun has spent 16 long years growing up along with the league. He thinks Stephen Curry has ruined basketball forever, and the mid-range game is a sight to behold. Sharma also has many opinions about football (not the American kind), F1, MotoGP, tennis, and cricket.

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