We’ve been talking a lot about Giannis Antetokounmpo lately, from his little comment about playing with his brothers, to the Warriors hoping (perhaps with futility) to trade for him by assembling assets.

The noise is happening because of one thing: the Greek Freak is currently the most unstoppable force of nature playing in the NBA.

He won his first MVP award last season, with numbers that anyone would be proud of (27.7 PPG, 12.5 REB, 5.9 AST, 1.3 STL, 1.5 BLK) while shooting 57.8% from the field. He did this with a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 30.9 – good for 13^th place in NBA history.

His effort led to the Milwaukee Bucks compiling the best regular season record in the NBA at 60-22. He then powered the Bucks to an 8-1 record in the first two rounds of the postseason, setting up a match with Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors.

The Bucks won the first two games of that Eastern Conference finals series before losing four in a row thanks to Leonard’s brilliance and the impeccable defensive schemes that Raptors coach Nick Nurse ran to neutralize him.

Antetokounmpo did not take that defeat lightly, and he’s been a man possessed since. What’s scary is that he’s playing even better this season, and the Bucks are again on top of the league with a 48-8 record so far. The LA Lakers come second at 42-12.

This time around, the Greek superstar is putting up 30 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.1 APG and 1.1 BPG. You could nitpick and say that his field goal percentage dropped to 55.2%, and his free throws percentage has dropped from 72.9% to 61.5%, but he’s also balanced that out with a marked improvement in his three point shot. This season has seen him shoot 31.1% from beyond the arc compared to 25.6% last year, and he’s also taking 4.8 threes a game compared to 2.8 last year.

That looks to me like he’s continuing to work on that outside jumper, and I feel bad for the rest of the league if he ever manages to get anywhere between 35-38% from beyond the arc as he continues to work. He’s already an unstoppable machine when driving to the hoop and will reach video game levels of unfair advantage if becomes a respectable threat from deep. Just ask the Lakers, who got a small preview when Antetokounmpo got hot in their December matchup last year.

Oh, and before I forget, he’s posting a PER of 32.5 this year. If he finishes anywhere near that by the end of the regular season, he will have had the highest PER in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain holds the second (31.82) and third (31.74) spots while Michael Jordan is fourth (31.71) and LeBron James is fifth (31.67). That’s some fine company to be in. He’s also achieving all of this by spending less time on the floor this year: 30.9 minutes compared to 32.8 in 2018-19.

At this moment, there really isn’t anyone that looks like they can stop Antetokounmpo from becoming the first repeat MVP since Steph Curry. That’s not such a bad thing.

The best player on the best team. That’s what the MVP should be.

So far, no one holds a handle to the Greek Freak. That’s why his future will be under a microscope until the he either commits his prime to the Bucks or takes his talents somewhere else.

You can’t blame the Lakers, Warriors, and every other team from praying that he somehow lands on their roster. Until then, we should all just be thankful as NBA fans to see him practice his craft.