LeBron James is no stranger to making a lightning-rod statements, and during a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, he made plenty of them, ranging from Stephen A. Smith’s tighty whities, his relationship with Michael Jordan, Miami Heat President Pat Riley stealing his cookies, or how Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo would fare playing in the 1970s.
“You’re trying to tell me Giannis wouldn’t be able to play an NBA game in the ’70s?” LeBron pondered during his PMS appearance. “Giannis Antetokounmpo would have 250 points in a game in the ’70s — 250. That’s no disrespect, but seriously.”
Naturally, everyone took what LeBron said at face value, as if 250 points wasn’t a tremendous exaggeration on his part. But of course, this turned into a media frenzy and prompted a response from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was just minding his own business before being dragged into all of this.

After joking that the number would actually be closer to 275 points, not 250, Giannis made a very well-conceived and diplomatic case for why it’s so difficult to compare different eras of professional basketball.
“Great compliment, but I don’t like comparing eras. It’s not fair,” Giannis told reporters. “And you know, if I played in the 70’s, how everybody practiced and how everybody played, I would’ve played the same way. That’s all you knew at the time, and the game evolves.”

“You’re trying to tell me Giannis wouldn’t be able to play an NBA game in the ’70s?” LeBron pondered during his PMS appearance. “Giannis Antetokounmpo would have 250 points in a game in the ’70s — 250. That’s no disrespect, but seriously.”

Naturally, everyone took what LeBron said at face value, as if 250 points wasn’t a tremendous exaggeration on his part. But of course, this turned into a media frenzy and prompted a response from Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was just minding his own business before being dragged into all of this.

After joking that the number would actually be closer to 275 points, not 250, Giannis made a very well-conceived and diplomatic case for why it’s so difficult to compare different eras of professional basketball.

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“Great compliment, but I don’t like comparing eras. It’s not fair,” Giannis told reporters. “And you know, if I played in the 70’s, how everybody practiced and how everybody played, I would’ve played the same way. That’s all you knew at the time, and the game evolves.”

This is all fine and good, but we can’t ignore the fact that the league was smaller, skinnier, and played at a faster pace in 1975 (104.5 possessions per game) than in 2025 (98.9). Drop Giannis into the NBA at that point in time, and he’s instantly the best athlete on the floor in any game he plays in. At 6-foot-11, 243 pounds, he’s substantially larger than any big man in the era with the exception of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bill Walton, including 1975 MVP Bob McAdoo, 1973 MVP Dave Cowens, or 1970 MVP Willis Reed.

Additionally, it’s not as if Giannis would be negatively impacted by the lack of a three-point line in the 1970’s. After a five year stretch under head coach Mike Budenholzer in which he averaged 3.5 three-point attempts per game, Giannis has now seemingly put an end to the experiment of trying to expand his range. He’s averaging only 0.8 attempt per game from long range this season, and as a result, his field goal percentage is back up over 60 percent for the second consecutive season. If anything, Giannis’ game is a throwback to the days when the sport was dominated by players who could score at will in the paint.
250 points is an obvious exaggeration, but count this writer as one who believes Giannis would’ve been just as dominant, if not even more dominant, if he were playing 50 years ago.