In 2021, Giannis Antetokounmpo was, in many peoples’ eyes, the best player in the world after winning his first championship. In just three years, NBA legend Kevin Garnett has come to the conclusion that Antetokounmpo isn’t even in the top three.

It’s not really a particularly hot take, though, considering Antetokounmpo’s struggles in the playoffs since his championship run, and he didn’t even play in the postseason this year after a late-season calf injury. He also only played in three of the Bucks’ five games in the 2023 playoffs, where they lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat.

That latest take came during a recent episode of Garnett and Paul Pierce’s podcast, where Garnett shared that he believed Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum were ahead of the Greek Freak. Garnett didn’t specifically say who his other entry in his top three was.

Embiid is a no-brainer, considering he was the 2023 MVP and managed a 50-point game against the New York Knicks in their first round series this year. Embiid’s problem has always been his durability, not his talent, and he also had 70 points, 18 rebounds and five assists in a regular season game this season.

Tatum, on the other hand, has also been consistently good over the last three season, and has been to the NBA Finals twice in that span.

So, who belongs up there with Tatum and Embiid? If we’re going with recency bias, there are at least a couple of players that come to mind..

The easiest one to add there, of course, would be Jaylen Brown. Although Garnett mentioned his teammate Tatum ahead of him, let’s not forget that Brown was both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP while averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the championship round. Considering how stacked the Celtics are, you have to be a really special player to be considered the most valuable out of all of them. No disrespect to Tatum, but Brown was the more consistent player in the last two rounds of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

The other guy that I think could easily fit that bill would be Jalen Brunson, who has emerged as the superstar that the New York Knicks have craved for so long. Brunson, while being injured himself, led a banged up Knicks squad to within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals while averaging 32.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 7.4 assists in one of the gutsiest playoff performances I’ve ever seen.

What do you think, though? Share your thoughts in the comments below and remember to follow us on Facebook!