Wednesday NBA Roundup: Giannis Antetokounmpo Is a Different Kind of Superstar

Grant HughesJan 4, 2017

Giannis Antetokounmpo snapped a streak of seven straight games with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists Wednesday, but he's probably cool with that.

All he has left now is a game-winner in Madison Square Garden to sink the New York Knicks, 105-104, not to mention (clears throat):

TOP NEWS

The cover of Sports Illustrated this week
A surefire All-Star berth
The highest player efficiency rating by a 22-year-old in the three-point era
A still-intact streak of 13 straight games with at least 20 points
Our hearts, minds and souls
The nastiest step-back jumper on record

And maybe we need to start there, with physical mechanics that do not compute. As much as anything else, Antetokounmpo's breakout season has been defined by nightly exhibitions like this—not necessarily the 27 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, but the highlights. Routinely and without fail, he turns in two or three plays that aren't just impressive.

They're unprecedented.

Full-court forays in four dribbles. Eurosteps that cover huge swaths of the court. Passes no man with his size has any business making.

Dunks like this:

So that massive backward leap, which somehow just looked wrong, was really right insofar as it fit perfectly into Antetokounmpo's portfolio of norm-smashing exploits.

Poor Lance Thomas defended the play well; there wasn't anything else to be done.

Sure, you'd like a second defender to attack on, say, Antetokounmpo's fifth dribble in the mid-post. Derrick Rose, notably, was in no-man's land—not guarding Malcolm Brogdon but also not digging down on Antetokounmpo. That's not ideal.

But with the Freak's passing eye, maybe a second defender is too risky. And you'll live with a contested step-back from a player whose only weakness is perimeter shooting.

Then again...

Recent events suggest we should be careful in cases like this. It's so easy to get caught up in another anointment.

We did it with Anthony Davis after his monstrous 2014-15 season. We did it before Karl-Anthony Towns even started this one. Both are still fantastic players who'll keep getting better, but the rush to proclaim generational transcendence generally comes too soon.

If there's a distinction to be made with Antetokounmpo, though, we saw an example Wednesday. And, really, we've seen them all year (and more of them the past couple seasons).

The things that set him apart are so conspicuous, so startlingly obvious, that it somehow feels reasonable to treat him differently. To just agree without examination that he's truly special.

It's a simplistic way to judge, but when a player does things no one else can do—that no one else has ever done—maybe it's OK to get careless about crowning him.

Or at the very least buying the idea that certain NBA supremacy is in his future.

Appropriately, after the move produced the signature moment of his career to this point, a big step back yields the clearest view of Antetokounmpo: He's a superstar unlike any we've ever seen.

Russell Westbrook Raises the Tough Questions

Can someone average a triple-double for a full season?

Is it possible to split a double-team so fast that you literally burst into flames?

Does free will exist?

That last one arose Monday when Westbrook—in the process of registering a typical 33 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 123-112 loss to the Charlotte Hornets—tagged official Tre Maddox in the head with the basketball.

Westbrook got a technical for the heave, though his body language after the fact suggested there was no intent to harm. Maybe he was acting, or maybe it was sincere regret. Either way, the bell could not be unrung.

You've got to like Enes Kanter stepping in front of Russ immediately, trying to shield him from view. It's basically the equivalent of a role player raising his hand so the foul committed by his star teammate gets credited to him. That's a selfless play right there.

Maddox bears some blame in all this as well. Eye on the ball, please.

As you'd expect, Westbrook denied hitting Maddox on purpose, per Erik Horne of the Oklahoman:

What's the NBA supposed to do with this, though? Suspension is generally the penalty for contact with an official (ask Rajon Rondo about it), and if that contact comes via airborne basketball rather than a shoulder tap, is it really so different?

If you're Westbrook, and you've got to plead your case, you can swear you thought Maddox was looking. You could even say you didn't mean to throw it toward him at all. The double-digit assist average will hurt here, though. Claiming inaccuracy is going to be tough.

When you've got control over your body like this, good luck calling a short toss accidental.

To really sell an excuse, Westbrook might need to get philosophical.

Go deep on the illusion of free will. Claim it's a biological process we neither control nor understand. Cite neuroscientific research that proves the synapses triggering physical actions (like, say, throwing) fire before the perception of a decision to throw registers in consciousness.

Failing that, maybe just explain that you're Russell Westbrook and dialing back intensity is something you're not so great at.

Do not, at any point, do this, though:

That's just rubbing it in.

Dwight Embraces Villainy

If you can't beat 'em, boo with 'em.

That's how the saying goes, right?

Dwight Howard is now five years removed from his tenure with the Orlando Magic, but the fans there have yet to forget his unceremonious exit. They let him hear about it throughout the Atlanta Hawks' 111-92 win.

And Howard joined in:

Why not, right? Atlanta was in control of the game from the second quarter on, Howard finished with 13 points and a dozen boards in 30 minutes and the Magic (16-21) haven't exactly put the pieces together since Dwight left.

Better to make light of the situation than to antagonize a fanbase already suffering enough.

The Hawks have won four straight and sit three games above .500 for the first time in six weeks.

Jimmy Butler Hears the Call

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 4: Jimmy Butler #21 of the Chicago Bulls handles the ball during a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 4, 2017 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by do

David Liam Kyle/Getty Images

The takeaway from Jimmy Butler's 52-point outburst against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday was simple: The Chicago Bulls are his team.

The takeover came with Dwyane Wade hurt and Rondo booted from the rotation, and it offered a glimpse of how life should have been for Butler all season. With space-cramping non-shooters out of the way and no other ball-stoppers to hinder him, Butler thrived.

Wednesday, then, serves as a counterpoint.

Butler was broke all game, scoring just six points until the fourth quarter. That's when one of those supposed hindrances got in his ear, per Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago:

Butler would score 14 points in the fourth, leading the Bulls to a 106-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I guess the old guys have their uses after all.