Kevin Garnett Would Take These Eastern Conference Players Over Giannis

The 2024-25 NBA season doesn't tip off until October 22 and the hot takes are already flying.

On All The Smoke's "Ticket & The Truth" show , Paul Pierce asked Kevin Garnett if Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best player in the Eastern Conference, and Garnett couldn't say yes.

"You can't say that with Embiid over there," Garnett said. "And with Jayson Tatum."

Pierce fired back, suggesting Antetokounmpo is "arguably" the best player in the East right now, but Garnett stuck to his take, saying he wouldn't argue that.

While he acknowledged injuries played a part, Garnett cited Antetokounmpo's first-round playoff exits the last two seasons as a primary reason why.

Pierce agreed with Garnett on Tatum being better than Antetokounmpo right now, as he's coming off an NBA championship win. However, The Truth said he'd chose Antetokounmpo over Embiid.

"It's close," Pierce admitted. "Giannis just, his presence is crazy on both ends."

A little recency bias might be plaguing Garnett. While Tatum had an incredible 2023-24 season leading the NBA champion-Celtics in points and rebounds per game with 26.9 and 8.1, respectively, Antetokounmpo had an equally dominant season for Milwaukee.

The Greek Freak averaged a double-double, finishing the season with 30.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

If not for a late-season calf injury , it could have been Milwaukee challenging Boston for the Eastern Conference title instead of Indiana.

Antetokounmpo also has the accolades to back himself up. He's a two-time NBA MVP, winning the award in 2019 and 2020, while also winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2020.

When the Bucks won the NBA Finals in 2021, Antetokounmpo was named Finals MVP. Embiid has an MVP award of his own (2023) while Tatum has an Eastern Conference MVP award (2022).