Former NBA All-Star believes Giannis wouldn’t have been a starter in 1980s, 1990s

Giannis Antetokounmpo may be a two-time NBA MVP, but one former All-Star isn’t that impressed. 

Charles Oakley, who played 19 years in the NBA from 1985 to 2004, said during a recent podcast interview that the Bucks star wouldn’t be enjoying nearly the success he’s having now if he had played when Oakley did in the 1980s and 1990s. 

“He wouldn’t have been a force back in the day,” Oakley said on the SLAM Magazine podcast. “He would have struggled, they would make him shoot jump shots. He wouldn’t be doing a Euro step to the basket, somebody’s gonna knock his head off.

“He’d come off the bench back in the day.”

Since 2018, Antetokounmpo has averaged 28.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. At 27 years old, the “Greek Freak” is a six-time All-Star and was the association’s MVP in 2019 and 2020. Last season, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to their first championship since 1971. He averaged 35.2 points and 13.2 boards in the NBA Finals versus Phoenix, clinching the title with a 50-point performance in Game 6. 

Charles Oakley says Giannis Antetokounmpo would come off the bench in his era 😯

(Via @SLAMonline | h/t @AhnFireDigital ) pic.twitter.com/K2KD1waL22

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 25, 2022

Oakley was drafted in 1985 and spent the first three years of his career playing alongside Michael Jordan. He then played in New York for the next decade and was a member of the 1994 Knicks team that went to the NBA Finals. An All-Star in 1994, Oakley bounced around at the end of his career, including a stint with the Wizards in 2002.

Despite Oakley’s dubious claim about the 6-foot-11 star, he did admit that Antetokounmpo has proved his skeptics wrong. 

“He’s doing his thing. I was skeptical because he couldn’t make a jump shot, a free throw,” Oakley said. “After what he did last year, he done won me over.”