Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t the kind of prospect who turned heads early on. He developed a bit later than most.
The Milwaukee Bucks took him 15th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft, and he didn’t make his first All-Star team until his fourth season.
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He went on to win back-to-back MVP awards in his sixth and seventh seasons, firmly placing himself among the NBA’s top players. But Kevin Garnett remembers that there were few signs of that future stardom when Giannis was just starting out.
Garnett recalled facing young Giannis and not seeing anything special at first, until a sudden change became impossible to ignore.
Giannis didn’t stand out to Kevin Garnett at first
Early on, Giannis didn’t leave much of an impression on Garnett. Their first few meetings barely registered with the veteran forward.
“I played against Giannis a couple times, and I think the first couple of times I played him, I didn’t even remember. It wasn’t nothing that made me kind of stick out, to remember the kid or nothing. I don’t even recall it. I don’t, you know, to the point where it wasn’t an impression,” Garnett explained.
The change came during their third meeting when Giannis’s physical development became impossible to ignore. The timing lined up with his growing commitment to his craft.
“It wasn’t until the third time, I think I was a little older, I think it was in Minnesota. We had a preseason game against Milwaukee that I could tell. He looked like Bruce Lee. He looked super ripped, he looked different. His posture was straight up,” said Garnett.
The reference to Bruce Lee captured how much Giannis’s body and presence had changed—a look that would soon become familiar around the league.
“That was my first interaction with him in this preseason game. And then obviously, the next year I retire and then I get a call from J Kidd to ask me if I can actually come in and work with him,” he added.
Garnett saw untapped potential during his time mentoring Giannis
When Jason Kidd, who had placed early faith in Giannis, reached out to Garnett for help, the Hall of Famer found a side of the player that wasn’t obvious in games. Their sessions together brought out qualities that were easy to overlook from a distance.
“He was very respectful and he was very timid. When I would say certain things to him, he wouldn’t look me in the face. As I started working with him a little more, I noticed that he had a fire that he wanted to let out,” Garnett observed.
What set Giannis apart wasn’t just his willingness to listen but also his commitment to turning advice into action.
“He actually dialed into the knowledge, and then he applied the knowledge, which is the difference in a lot of things. You know, people get knowledge, but they don’t always apply it. And I can say that he applied it and then made a whole foundation of his game and who you know him to be today,” Garnett concluded.
The results spoke for themselves as Giannis went on to win two MVPs and played a key role in Milwaukee’s 2021 title run while establishing himself as one of the top two-way players in basketball.
Looking ahead, Giannis will be chasing another championship ring next season – whether it’s still with Milwaukee or another team – as trade rumours continue swirling around his future with the Bucks.
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