Calling Giannis "A Pippen" Is One Of The Most Outrageous Things I've Ever Seen

Listen I fully understand that the hot takes are going to fly with the Bucks down 0-2, but can we pump the goddamn brakes for a second? First, it's kind of fucked up that this is said as a slight. Poor Scottie Pippen. Dude is one of the best two way SFs of all time and was selected as one of the top 50 players EVER. He was technically a sidekick to Jordan but the dude was still an absolute monster. What Richard Jefferson is suggesting here though is that Giannis can't be THE GUY. He can't be the "Jordan" for the Bucks or wherever he plays next.

That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Would Jordan have been Jordan if his best teammates were Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe? I get that as the star player and league MVP you are going to catch the most heat for not reaching a Finals. That comes with the territory. But we're talking about a player with a career postseason average of

23.9/11.1/4.9/1.1/1.5 on 51/33% shooting.

If you take out his first appearance when he was 20 years old and averaged 11 a game it becomes

26.1/11.8/5.2/1.3/1.5 on 56/34% shooting

So far in this playoffs he's up to 

28.6/14.9/6.0 on 57/37% shooting

What are we even doing here? Meanwhile, his best teammate in Middleton is shooting 41% and 39% from the floor over these last two postseasons. Eric Bledsoe is shooting 43/31% this season and put up 41/23% last year. How is that on Giannis? I get it, there are parts of his game he needs to improve, but I just can't see the connection of his postseason production and him being a "Pippen".

Maybe this is just what Richard Jefferson is doing now. He is a talking head on debate shows and whatnot so it makes sense that he would put on his best Skip impression. You don't win back to back MVPs and a DPOY and be one of the most unstoppable players in the league by accident. The Bucks have had historic seasons in back to back years. I'd put their playoff failures on the supporting cast as much as anyone. Maybe the guys who are supposed to be "Pippen" aren't actually Pippen. 

It's also possible that maybe the Heat are just built to handle this Bucks team? Why discredit them? Giannis is a freak but he's also human. It's very rare that one guy can carry a team to a title. Jordan didn't even do it. I think if the Bucks were to give Giannis a legit second star teammate or if he were to find it on a different team, we are most likely having a much different discussion. That's the bigger issue for me when it comes to the Bucks not getting it done in the postseason. The guys they invested in to be the second and third guys aren't good enough. It doesn't fully excuse Giannis' issues at times, but give me a break. 

Even the man himself agrees this is outrageous.