How Giannis Antetokounmpo dominates without needing a jump shot

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been the biggest revelation in a compelling NBA season. The Milwaukee Bucks’ “point guard” is leading the NBA in scoring, dominating the paint like the great big men before him, and supplying nightly highlights unlike any we’ve ever seen from a basketball player.

The scariest part: Giannis turns 23 in December. He’s just scratching the surface of his incredible potential.

More remarkably, he’s doing it while shooting just 33 percent on three-pointers and 34 percent on any shot taken outside of 16 feet. That’s led almost everyone to wonder what might happen if he ever learns how to shoot consistently.

But here’s the thing: he never needs to. Part of his appeal is that he dominates without shooting proficiently from the perimeter. While almost every other player needs to shoot well to open up the rest of his game, Giannis is different.

In this video, we show how the Greek Freak destroys teams without a perimeter game. Thanks to his unique combination of length, agility, and strength, Antetokounmpo turns defensive coverages designed to coax him into shooting into runways to tap-dance to the basket. If he’s this productive without a jumper, why develop one?

It’s true that NBA players need jump shots to keep the defense honest, but Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t like any other NBA player. He’s a unicorn of unicorns, a Greek Freak of Nature the NBA’s never seen. The rules simply don’t apply to him.