I brought MJ into this as the extreme example of what we so often see. In hindsight, MJ is some kind of otherworldly champion, but at 26, his reputation was that of a stat stuffer who couldn’t get past the great teams of his era. That was the MJ of my youth, not the guy who would surely will his team to victory.
Dirk’s clutch play in contrast with LBJ disappearing in the 4th quarter was Lebron’s legacy until it wasn’t. Now he’s maybe the second best ever; then he was a superstar but also a punchline to lots of jokes.
At 26, KD’s Thunder choked away a 3-1 lead. Now he’s an unstoppable force. He’s coming off a career-ending injury, just lost his MVP-winning #2 teammate, and it doesn’t seem to matter.
The criticisms of Giannis, which are fair right now, could be tweaked and made of many all-time great superstars at the same age. We forget how young 26 is in NBA terms.
I make the MJ, KD, LBJ comparisons only because there’s a reasonable chance that Giannis will be the guy after the decline of KD. Maybe he’ll instead be the guy who’s not quite good enough, but he’s a pretty reasonable candidate for the next unstoppable force — and we shouldn’t be surprised that he’s not that guy quite yet.
There’s varying levels of greatness among MJ, LBJ, and KD, but the comparison seems apt for a guy who doesn’t seem to be quite there yet. Maybe they were closer, but they weren’t there either.