Stephen A. says Giannis Antetokounmpo will be an underachiever if he does not win another title: "That's not acceptable"
Stephen A. says Giannis Antetokounmpo will be an underachiever if he does not win another title: "That's not acceptable" originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Giannis Antetokounmpo went from a raw 18-year-old teenager drafted into the NBA because of his physical gifts to a two-time NBA MVP, one-time Finals MVP and NBA champion in less than a decade.
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But despite these remarkable achievements, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith declared that if Antetokounmpo retires tomorrow, he would be dubbed an underachiever.
"He's one of the greatest players to ever play the game," began Smith. "Over the last four years, minimum 200 games, Giannis second in the league at 30.4 points per game, fifth in the league at 11.7 rebounds per game, fifth among qualified players at 58 percent from the field. And nine All-NBA selections, nine All-Star selections and Top 10 finishes in league MVP voting nine times. He has more of that than postseason series wins. That's not acceptable."
Not Giannis' fault
Antetokounmpo has been one of the most accomplished players in the NBA in recent years. But after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA championship, they have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs.
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In the 2024-25 season, the Bucks posted a 48-34 record, good enough for the fifth seed in the East. But after Damian Lillard went down with an Achilles injury, they were eliminated 4-1 by the eventual Eastern Conference champions Indiana Pacers.
Although Smith admits that it's hard to blame the Bucks' struggles on Antetokounmpo — especially given the season that he's had — all-time greats are always held accountable for their team's shortcomings, regardless of the circumstances.
"You don't look at somebody that dominant, that fantastic, with that kind of fire in his belly to compete on a night-in and night-out basis, and all you have is one championship to show for it. He's got one playoff series win in the last four years. Ain't his fault. He's hurt a couple of times. Got upset by Miami and Jimmy Butler; Jimmy and the crew gave it to him, no doubt. But this year, Damian Lillard goes down and you lose to Indiana," Smith added.
"We understand all of that. But to know Giannis, his career, his accomplishments, his cache, and to say one championship, nah, you definitely expect more than that," the ESPN analyst concluded.
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Related: "I can go out myself and take one thousand shots anywhere I want" - Larry Bird saw no benefit in playing three-on-three
KD responds to Smith's comments on Giannis
Smith received a lot of backlash for his comments on social media. Among them was Kevin Durant, who has had his share of back-and-forths with the ESPN analyst.
He replied to a tweet that called Smith's Giannis' comments toxic and elementary, expressing his disappointment.
The superstar forward has consistently stated that NBA media has become too toxic, with people like Smith creating their own narratives to put down star players. The same thing happened to him after Stephen A. called his move to Golden State in 2016 the "weakest superstar move ever." The two have gone at each other many times since then.
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Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo hasn't responded to Smith's take. Still, very few will agree with it.
From where he started his NBA career, nobody expected Antetokounmpo to be where he is today. But he's here because of hard work, dedication and love of the game. With one NBA championship and countless individual accolades to his name, that's the ultimate success story.
Related: "I can multi-task, especially during TIMEOUTS" - Stephen A. Smith lies while addressing viral photo of him playing solitaire during Game 4 of 2025 Finals
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
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