The duo that Milwaukee expected to see a blast from delivered a series of underwhelming performances last season. However, with a whole postseason under their belts, Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo gear up to show off their true colors this time. The point of concern is that it seems Dame does not have much hope for his scoring partner. The Bucks point guard shared his Top 5 players from the NBA a couple of days ago on the Club 520 pod. Surprisingly, he put his teammate Giannis in fifth place! Though putting The Greek Freak in the first place would not be completely illogical, he still chose others.
An ESPN employee feels the same as he called out the drawbacks. Co-host Darrick recently appeared alongside Kenny Beecham on Numbers on the Board to express his views on the duo. However, a shocking opinion emerged, “Put the right team around him; I ain’t got nobody like Giannis to take the ball out of his hands.” What they implied here is that Antetokounmpo is the one to take assistance from Dame, limiting the veteran’s chance to score.
However, surprisingly, the Greek Freak is coming off a field goal percentage of 61.1%, averaging 30.4 points last season. These staggering numbers don’t just come with assistance. It is the duo, not Dame or Giannis alone.
The same thought ran through host Kenny Beecham’s mind as he could not control himself, stating, “Hell No! …Dame is a good role player to win a Championship and not Dame and Giannis?” It was utterly confusing for Kenny too, since the former Blazer did get the chance to fully prove his mettle last postseason. He did it… to some extent.
In Game 1 against the Pacers, he scored 35 points to get the lead for the Bucks. However, the Game 2 loss despite the 34-point haul and Dame’s Achilles injury in the following game brought the Bucks down to their knees. Notably, Giannis was not there the whole time because of the strain of the soleus muscle in his left calf. So Kenny was spot on about only one was not enough for them to win the Championship. However, what followed from Darrick left the panel once again stunned in their seats.
Quite confused with Darrick’s take on Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kenny asked Darrick about the best role player in the NBA. And the response from the ESPN employee was, “I would probably go with like Jaylen Brown.” JB, as a role player remark, seemed insane to the host as he showcased the Finals MVP status of the Celtics star in disbelief. Jaylen Brown has got an impressive 35.4% shooting from the deep, along with a 49.9% field goal percentage! That’s just pure offensive aura right there.
He didn’t have a skyrocketing assist record last season averaging 3.6 in a game. He is more of a scorer and is active on the defensive end because of his athleticism. Jayson Tatum could be a better fit since he has better playmaking numbers. However, it is worth noting that the Olympian is more of a defender than a playmaker.
On the other hand, Damian Lillard is a pure playmaker with a 7-assist average last season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo alongside him with 6.5. So, it is exactly what the host Kenny pointed out. Dame and Giannis are the role players to make the Bucks a Championship contender, not one of them alone!
