Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived in the NBA in 2013 as a 15th overall pick from Greece who had played professionally for Filathlitikos B.C. in Athens — a second-division club where he was earning $50 per game. He was 18 years old, weighed 196 pounds, and spoke almost no English. By his seventh season he had won two consecutive MVP awards and was leading the Milwaukee Bucks to their first championship in 50 years.

The 2021 championship run defined his career in the sharpest possible terms. Milwaukee trailed the Phoenix Suns two games to zero in the Finals. Antetokounmpo, recovering from a hyperextended knee suffered in the Eastern Conference Finals, returned for Game 3 and averaged 35.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 2.8 blocks per game across the last four games. In Game 6 — the clinching game — he scored 50 points on 16-of-25 shooting, added 14 rebounds and 5 blocks, and was named Finals MVP. He cried during the trophy ceremony.

His physical development is its own story. Between his rookie year and his age-22 season, he added 47 pounds of muscle while increasing his lateral quickness and maintaining an acceleration to the basket that players six inches shorter could not match. He is six feet eleven inches tall and plays center on defense while initiating most of Milwaukee's offense as a ball-handler and passer. The combination — elite rim protection, elite rebounding, elite finishing in transition and at the rim — is the reason his Player Efficiency Rating has ranked first in the league in multiple consecutive seasons.

In the 2024-25 season, he averaged 31.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 61.4 percent from the field — a field goal percentage that describes what happens when a player can get to his spots without opposition.