murksiderock
Superstar
Has there been a more apropos comp, in regards to both's stature in The League in their primes and what they did once the tournament began every year?
Admiral did a full four years at college plus a two-year service stint, so at Giannis' age (26) he was only in Y2. But think of it in the sense that thru Y8, which is where Giannis is, and where Robinson was in '97, here's where they line up in an accolades comp:
Admiral thru Y8 ('97)
•MVP, DPOY, ROY, scoring title, rebounding title, blocks title
•7x All-NBA (4x 1st), 7x All-D (4x 1st), 7x All-Star
•7 playoff appearances: 54.7 wins/year, 0-1 WCF, 3 Rd1 outs
•repeatedly emasculated by Mailman Malone, Dream, Barkley in superstar matchups in playoffs
Giannis thru Y8 ('21)
•MVP, DPOY, MIP, AMVP
•5x All-NBA (3x 1st), 4x All-D (2x 1st), 5x All-Star
•5 playoff appearances: 52.2 wins/year, 0-1 ECF, two Rd1 outs
•emasculated repeatedly in superstar matchups vs Kawhi, Butler, KD in playoffs
.................
Beyond that, I think time has caused all but the most astute basketball heads to forget how people viewed Robinson in his prime. Like Giannis, he was shattering all kinds of efficiency records and "dominance" records and was seen as a physical specimen who could do things a guy at his position traditionally couldn't do. Robinson was a dominant player and revived a Spurs franchise that had been dormant since the Gervin years...
Dream winning those two rings really changed the narrative on his career, because before that there was fluidity in the early 90s as to the next best player to Mike, and Admiral was very much in that conversation and universally accepted as a Top 5 active player. Similarly, Giannis burst on the scene and many people consider him a Top 5 player, with both sharing in common a repeated breakdown in confidence, productivity, and efficiency from otherwise efficient players, once games shifted into playoff intensity...
So there are plenty of parallels, and I'm a fan of both but until and unless Giannis turns this trend around with the kind of performances expected from guys his stature, he's this era's David Robinson.....and Robinson never turned it around. The best thing that ever happened to him is getting hurt and a better player walking thru the door to enable him to play a lesser role without the backlash and responsibility given a guy who annually puts up historic regular seasons. And most people still rate Admiral as a Top 20 All-Timer (i don't have him that high), so maybe Giannis' true potential will be unlocked when he gets to play with someone better than him...
Admiral did a full four years at college plus a two-year service stint, so at Giannis' age (26) he was only in Y2. But think of it in the sense that thru Y8, which is where Giannis is, and where Robinson was in '97, here's where they line up in an accolades comp:
Admiral thru Y8 ('97)
•MVP, DPOY, ROY, scoring title, rebounding title, blocks title
•7x All-NBA (4x 1st), 7x All-D (4x 1st), 7x All-Star
•7 playoff appearances: 54.7 wins/year, 0-1 WCF, 3 Rd1 outs
•repeatedly emasculated by Mailman Malone, Dream, Barkley in superstar matchups in playoffs
Giannis thru Y8 ('21)
•MVP, DPOY, MIP, AMVP
•5x All-NBA (3x 1st), 4x All-D (2x 1st), 5x All-Star
•5 playoff appearances: 52.2 wins/year, 0-1 ECF, two Rd1 outs
•emasculated repeatedly in superstar matchups vs Kawhi, Butler, KD in playoffs
.................
Beyond that, I think time has caused all but the most astute basketball heads to forget how people viewed Robinson in his prime. Like Giannis, he was shattering all kinds of efficiency records and "dominance" records and was seen as a physical specimen who could do things a guy at his position traditionally couldn't do. Robinson was a dominant player and revived a Spurs franchise that had been dormant since the Gervin years...
Dream winning those two rings really changed the narrative on his career, because before that there was fluidity in the early 90s as to the next best player to Mike, and Admiral was very much in that conversation and universally accepted as a Top 5 active player. Similarly, Giannis burst on the scene and many people consider him a Top 5 player, with both sharing in common a repeated breakdown in confidence, productivity, and efficiency from otherwise efficient players, once games shifted into playoff intensity...
So there are plenty of parallels, and I'm a fan of both but until and unless Giannis turns this trend around with the kind of performances expected from guys his stature, he's this era's David Robinson.....and Robinson never turned it around. The best thing that ever happened to him is getting hurt and a better player walking thru the door to enable him to play a lesser role without the backlash and responsibility given a guy who annually puts up historic regular seasons. And most people still rate Admiral as a Top 20 All-Timer (i don't have him that high), so maybe Giannis' true potential will be unlocked when he gets to play with someone better than him...
