Draymond Green explained his reasoning for why Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't the greatest power forward of this era.
The Warriors' power forward was asked if he agreed or disagreed with the assertion that Antetokounmpo is the best player at that position right now.
“I’m going to disagree,” Green told Baron Davis on “The Draymond Green Show.” “And the reason I disagree is this. Giannis has played in an era where it kind of became positionless basketball. And I don’t necessarily think that Giannis is a power forward and has been [during his career]. And that’s why I disagree with that.
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SIGN UP HERE “Because Giannis is one of the greatest players of this era, and the game was kind of positionless. What made people start calling Giannis a power forward is because you had to start putting power forwards in the center [position] on Giannis [to guard him].”
Antetokounmpo possesses one of the NBA's most versatile skill sets, able to penetrate to the rim while also serving as the primary ballhandler. Few players in the league's history have possessed such a unique combination of size and speed, making it a special challenge to build a team around him.
Green understands this, and the way the Bucks have surrounded Antetokounmpo with shooters might lead one to believe he was playing as a power forward.
“The team that you build around Giannis because his skillset is so great driving and getting downhill, that you put a lot of shooting around him,” Green told Davis. “So then when people look at the game, they’re like, ‘Oh, well Jrue Holiday must be this position, and Khris Middleton must be this position, and Brooke Lopez is the five,’ ok great, so Giannis is a power forward.
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“But if you look at the great power forwards. Giannis doesn’t play like Tim Duncan; Giannis doesn’t play like Kevin Garnett. So, I think people are being lazy and don’t understand what they’re looking at, and so they pigeonhole him into the power forward position. And I just don’t think that’s very accurate.”
The modern game of basketball relies on players like Antetokounmpo, who can effectively play multiple positions. Instead of rigid positions and offensive sets, players are expected to have versatility. Essentially, the game has broken down into long-range shooters (mainly guards) and interior players (forwards and centers) who can also move the ball and take shots from beyond the arc.
The evolution of the game makes historical comparisons at each position tenuous at best. Just looking at a shot chart from 2005 versus 2025 shows how dramatically things have changed.
Green is a student of the sport, having started his career when his teammates Steph Curry and Klay Thompson revolutionized the 3-point shot. So, he’s well aware of the seismic change the NBA has undergone in the past decade, with a shift towards more positionless basketball.