LeBron James made many headlines this week when he appeared on ESPN and fanned the flames of his feud with Stephen A. Smith. He also made headlines with a comment about how today’s players would fare in the old NBA.
Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, James boldly proclaimed that Giannis Antetokounmpo would score 250 points in one game if he played in the 1970s. A touch of exaggeration, one might say, but James’s point about how dominant players would be dominant no matter what year they played in got across.
On Friday, Antetokounmpo was asked about the topic by reporters following the Milwaukee Bucks’ 116–107 loss to the New York Knicks. He had the perfect response.
“I’ll say, I don’t know about that take. It’s the wrong take. If I played in the ’70s, it would be more of 275 (points), not 250,” Giannis joked.
He went on to give his true thoughts and gave an equally as perfect an answer.
“Great compliment, but I don’t like comparing eras,” the Bucks superstar explained. “It’s not fair. If I played in the ’70s, how everybody practiced and how everybody played (meant) we’d play the same way. That’s all you knew at the time. The game evolves. We got to 2020 and we know more. People shoot the ball from half court. … It’s totally different. You cannot compare this era and that era.”
Giannis on LeBron saying he’d score 250 points in a 1970s game:
“It’s wrong take…probably more 275 😆 I’m joking. Great compliment. But I don’t like comparing eras. It’s not fair. If I played in the 70s, how everybody practiced & played, we’d play same way…The game evolves…” pic.twitter.com/p3rtCK38nj
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) March 29, 2025
A fun answer and a serious answer. A reporter’s dream.
While it’s not the most fun take on the topic, Antetokounmpo’s answer is the most fair. Comparing eras of basketball separated by decades is a fruitless exercise that only serves to incite debate. Even if it is amusing to imagine dropping a player nicknamed the Greek Freak into the NBA of 50 years ago with modern medical science and conditioning on his side.
