SB, I have a video concept you should try. I came up with this idea while watching the NBA finals game 6 bucks suns, the final possessions, and as a bucks fan I was thinking "man look what Giannis had to pass all these years, the meltdowns, the short playoffs exit, the critics..." I think it is a pretty cool series where you show the great players path to their first championship like MJ, LeBron showing all the steps they had to make in order to reach glory for the first time, this only works for players who struggled, in the beginning, tho you can also use other sports not only basketball! the series could be named something like " The first" to give emphasis to the concept.
Giannis is like the kid in a superhero movie that is learning all the new powers he hasn't discovered yet. The fact that he's locked up a Hall of Fame resume before hitting his prime (and before other legends reached his heights) is insane. He's already in the top 25 to me and he could be top 10 if he continues to progress.
Giannis has improved every single season since he got to the league, now that he's at the peak of his powers it's about refining his game and leading his team to championships. He's the antithesis to everything Harden is; a two-way superstar, great leader and a professional when it comes to handling off the court basketball business. Both on their prime, I'd always pick the Greek Freak as the pillar of my franchise.
Giannis is the best player since MJ to build a Franchise around. Le'Bron and Harden ditched their franchises at same time Giannis signs his Super Max extension.
@@Wallyworld30 Duncan still > Giannis until he gets to five chips. The Spurs were contenders from the MOMENT those lottery balls went their way until Duncan's last game nearly 20 years later. Same idea too...humble, hard working, two way superstar in mid market elevates his team by continually improving his game and setting an example of putting winning above looking good. Duncan could've averaged 30/18 at his peak if he wanted to. Didn't make his team better.
@@andreasschlosser6033 u act like he's some swole monster. he built muscle and filled out his body, cut fat, etc. he ain't out here looking like an NFL linebacker.
@@EnzoPepsiCola Fr. Giannis cracks jokes and is quiet angey, Harden can be sensitive about his legacy. But honestly both players no doubt hold each other in high regard. Given that both Giannis and KD seem to have have a mutually competitive but very respectful relationship and KD is arguably the most skilled player in the league, I don't think his friend and teammate Harden probably thinks much different. These guys are just super driven and the Harden beef is probably with the press more than anything. I'll admit though, they do have clashing personalities and styles. Giannis is a quiet killer and you can see who he wants to destroy, by how hard he goes at a player or team on the court. See him v AD. It's only dirty defenders that tend to make him raise hands.
@@divideandmultiply exactly, they may not particularly like each other (each others play style) but there's a clear level of respect there. I doubt it's even beef anymore
Giannis went from a kid selling watches, handbags, and sunglasses on the streets of Greece to become the NBA's greatest player today. What an inspiration.
@@billzzdimzz2990 bruh you know how many nba players are Giannis height, your pushing that arrogance narrative that height makes up Giannis winning a championship
@@billzzdimzz2990 exactly so it comes down to a balance of how proficient you are, I don't see how "just being tall" suddenly made one special 6'10 athlete out of all forward/gaurds manages to be a 6x all star, an MVP, a final MVP, an NBA championship (which harden still doesn't have), a defensive player of the year... Nah I can't even go on 💀 obviously he has skill
A couple of years ago I remember agreeing with harden but seeing Gianni’s improve has changed my mind. Giannis is one of the most agile and dexterous big men we have ever seen.
Same, but since 2019 his overall improvements and most importantly bball iq are clearly astonishing, still don’t like the guy because i’m a harden fan and i don’t like bucks bully ball but he’s truly one of a kind
Honestly, i never thought harden was right. You don't score 20+ ppg if you don't have skills. Even shaq had great post moves outside of just bullying his defender in the paint.
@@allobinks1672 its really sad that you let a stranger make decisions for you. You don't have to dislike someone because you like someone else. Grow up.
i honestly still partially agree with harden, giannis literally doesn’t do anything but drive to the rim and get fouled every time. Imo he’s the most physically dominant player besides shaq or wilt but still not skilled almost at all. Don’t get me wrong he’s still a top 5 player and arguably the best player in the league from time to time but he is nowhere near the most skilled player in the league. At least he does try to improve and doesn’t get scared to shoot the ball unlike ben simmons.
For real, it's easy to move on to watching Giannis while Aaron Rodgers is trying to get his head out of his ass and figure out where he will be playing next season. I have tuned out 100% Packer news since the loss and won't look again until we know who our Starting QB will be. Giannis is most entertaining player in sports RN.
This whole thing was such a bad look for James. Giannis won at every turn, kept improving, won a championship and was more likeable and classy throughout.
Love seeing Giannis on SB, this beef actually went deeper than I remember even though it's so recent. And Giannis winning that chip is the cherry on top of it all
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most complete players I have seen in recent years, and he has the ring to show for it. Harden meanwhile is a huge talent that squanders it with his selfish, one dimensional play style who often intentionally plays half gas and then comes up short when it really counts. Assuming Giannis stays healthy for a few more years and gets at least one more ring, he's going to go down in history as one of the greatest of his generation.
Hey check out the Apex Greatness Podcast, we do each episode as a season of a players career, deep diving into the narratives of each season and try to explain how that particular player got to where they did. Check it out!
Nah Giannis doesn’t care to beef at all, he’s like Tim Duncan jus puts his head down and goes to work. There’s a reason he’s not rubbing it in harden face
2:24 I don't think Harden was contradicting himself. He was pointing out the hypocrisy of the media always changing the rules of the MVP so they could give it to someone not named James Harden. When Curry won over Harden's better stats, it was because Curry had a better record. When Russ won over Harden's better record, it was because Russ (arguably) had better stats - the triple doubles.
Changing the rules?? We all know Jordan should have ten mvps and Bron around 8-9 off of dominating the game. Hardens stats are good but when you watch him it’s hard. The man shot and averaged more free throws made than field goals for five years. That’s not mvp that’s stat chasing. And everyone knew it. Hence foul change
lmao 2017 is one of the most rigged mvp voting ballots and 2019 too. Harden was 2 rebounds from a triple double that year leading in assist with a top 3 seed. Yet Westbrook one because of 2 rebounds more a game on a sixth seed. Giannis in 2019 atleast made sense because he was the best two player on the best team but harden literally averaged 36/8/7 on 62% TS on a 4th seed... but just another year ago seeding didn't matter
@Apple Sundae 2017 and 2019 was highway robbery and harden career takes a hit for losing those years, i feel like where his lack of a championship lies. he can atleast back up his legacy with 2 or 3 mvps
I'm a Giannis fan but man, seeing those numbers from Harden's 2019 season again is astounding. Gotta feel for Harden, he had some incredible seasons but Giannis' path was written in the stars
Harden also had way more free throws than anyone in the league, players know the fouls he drew with the arm lock... it was crazy they let him do that for so long.
Harden must have been so mad that Giannis won the NBA championship on the year he chose to join a superteam, while Giannis did it with the team that drafted him without another superstar like Durant and Irving. He also won FMVP while ending the series with a 50pts game. Giannis is a beast on offense and defense. He's way better than Harden.
@@lostnemesis harden is still as good all around in all fairness where harden lacks in defense giannis lacks in offense but recently biased is gonna lead the way especially with these new fans and the floppin but both top tier superstars either way
@@ck4514 I just agree with Bill Simmons and his take on James harden I don't believe he's going to age well he doesn't take care of his body and he's not the same player that he once was you look at the history of Superstar players like him who were talented who played a lot of minutes in the playoffs but really weren't super focused on taking care of their body they normally start crashing around this point and he's kind of doing that right now some of that is he doesn't care it looks like he doesn't want to be in Brooklyn but you can't deny it looks like he's lost a little something.
@@giorgoslolos9132 If you aren’t stupid, you never discredit any championships. But to say that Giannis had a difficult road to his ring is not very accurate. I’m glad he got it but it wasn’t a struggle.
@@giorgoslolos9132 Didn't lebron try to call the Rockets and Celtics a super team? Drexler didn't join Hakeem until his 12th season and Charles Barkley 13th season. Hakeem was post knee surgery and in his 15th season when he got Pippen. The Boston Celtics youngest Big 3 player (KG/Paul/Ray) was older than Miami oldest big 3 when they joined. Side note. Did you see Derrick Rose during the Heat 3 era? Lebron beat only one 50 win team in the playoffs from 2004-2010. The lone team was a Detroit Pistons that didn't even have Ben Wallace. How did lebron respond to beating only one 50 win team in the east? By leaving and creating a super team at 25 years old while promising seven champs. At least a winning record in the Finals during this time? How did he respond? By leaving again. I like how lebron fans have to resort to calling everyone on his team trash. Even after 2010. I wonder where they learned that from? "I don't believe I've played for a superteam" Lebron James when asked if Miami paved the way for superteams after game 5 in 2017 vs the Warriors. Most lebron fans want to focus on the few years vs the Warriors. Instead of the fact that lebron been team hopping for Allstars since 2010. Over a decade now. Didn't Stephen Curry just finish his rookie season at the time. Beside, The Warriors have never won a champ without a Major injury to their biggest opponents top two stars. Curry fans tend to skip this part. They rather blame it on Andre or Bogut injuries like they are the stars on an already loaded team. Yet lebron fans want to talk about this instead of lebron team hopping for Allstars since the 2010 off-season. Over ten years of picking his own teammate and he still has a losing record in the Finals. Had he won more, no one would have room to say anything about him jumping teams for All-stars. Sorry. This is not going to age well in the history book for the Warriors or Lebron. Hearing both Lebron and Curry fans preach "2016 goat" is really cute. Sorry. Hey at least lebron has his Mickey Mouse Trophy.
@@giorgoslolos9132 I like how curry fans try to say they did it on their own. When it was clearly Jerry West. Brside. Now they lost their team of almost 50 years. What did Oakland get in return? Blacked out Town jersey that the fans were buying up like hot cakes. Hey at least they'll alway have 73-9. But seriously. Warriors need to return to Oakland. Sonics need to return to Seattle. The Warriors have never won a champ without a Major injury to their biggest opponents top two stars. Curry fans tend to skip this part. They rather blame it on Andre or Bogut injuries like they are the stars on an already loaded team. This includes the dirty Zaza play against the spurs Kawhi Leonard. Kinda ironic because he used the same dirty move that Bruce Bowen was known for.
Giannis definitely won this beef. Harden has played with multiple mvps and still chasing a ring after all these years. Giannis stayed in a tiny market and built a championship team in only a few years.
Tbh harden woulda won a ring twice if he wasn’t so unlucky. 2021 nets woulda beat the bucks and the 2018 rockets woulda beat the warriors. Respect to giannis and he’s one of my favourites but you can’t really hate on harden when he has been incredibly unlucky
@@R_Velli_ bro what??? It’s his fault those teams never manifested into championship teams. Injuries happen you gotta deal with it, cp3 was hurt and in game 7 harden played historically bad. The nets he forced his way out
@@dirtyjerde13 played awful but lost by single digits. Injuries are a part of the game, but context is needed. To say a dumb statement like this ‘harden isn’t a winner’ is dumb when it requires context
@@uppertroupe Chris Paul got injured. His efficiency sucked, but the rockets lost by 9 points in game 7. If CP3 plays, the spacing will improve, he will hit mid range shots and can get more wide open looks. Dumbass bruh
Just to note: Harden saying "I thought it was all about winning." Wasn't a contradiction. It was a sleight at the voters, who used the winning argent to give the award to Steph before. More of a "keep the same energy." Comment
Harden saying that he thought wins mattered wasn't him contradicting himself, it's him calling back to when he lost to Steph and the response was largely telling him that Steph won because wins mattered. It's not him having a new opinion, it's him leveraging the arguments that were used against him earlier and it's a valid argument to make tbh.
tbh those 2019 numbers by harden are crazy! but giannis did something no one expected thats season, he turned the bucks into the best team in basketball, which is crazy when you think that they were literally the worst team in basketball when got drafted lol. What more crazy is though is giannis is now averaging 29/11/6 with a steal and block a game, leading the bucks to the 2nd best record in the east and how easy it looks for him now. Damn i didnt realised the rocket twitter team was like that, you gotta be humble in defeat and in victory.
@@TyBrezzy11 ...yeh...well it don't matter does it, cause the Bucks got 1st seed...n the rockets didn't, Harden is incredible and get the highest score for t he Rockets game in and game out then...but hes such a 1 man army kinda guy...that don't work no more in the NBA 1 needs their team play to win
Even if you had tunnel vision when it came to Giannis offense, he's an elite defender. For Harden to say a player with that kind of defensive ability lacks skill says a lot about what he values as a player.
I think Harden would say that if you got genetically blessed with freak athleticism and a 7'5 wingspan, you should damn well be a good defender. Being that long and athletic can cover a multitude of defensive sins (not saying I'm in total agreement with Harden, but I do see where he's coming from)
@@colejames423 Fair enough but then those Bigman don't translate to well on the other end of the court since they lack that dexterity and footwork to get it to the basket, plus Giannis pretty fast to the rim compared to i dunno the Joker
@@basileldose1719 yeah for sure. I just think that’s Harden’s point. When you’re 7 foot with elite athleticism and a giant wingspan, you didn’t actually do anything to achieve that. It’s just a gift of nature. So it’s way easier to be good at basketball than if you’re a more normal/less physical gifted person. Again not saying he’s totally right, but hes not wrong either
@@supay_inca y’all just be saying stuff he’s averaging more free throw attempts a game than he has the past 3 years 😐 at least know yo stats before you just go saying stuff he definitely still gets to the line you stuck on the first month of the season Roberto
I love how enthusiastically wrong Harden was about how much skill it takes to do what Giannis does. Anyone who has played basketball or even watches regularly knows that getting to the rim regularly takes a lot of skill, regardless of how tall you are. There are dozens of seven footers in the NBA. Only one of them is doing what Giannis does. Also? Harden gets like 30% of his points by flopping to get foul calls. I won't say that takes no skill, but... glass houses, buddy. Ultimately, Harden's obsession with the MVP award is the reason why he doesn't deserve it. Guys like LeBron, Kobe, Giannis etc could score 40 a game if they really wanted to. But they don't, because for them it's about winning. Even Durant joining Golden State was a winning move. You don't join a team with Steph and Klay if you're worried about your stats. Harden as a superstar decided to follow the path of guys like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony who were ball dominant and all about their stats. That's why he declines in the playoffs... you don't have the energy that other stars will after 80+ games if you're hogging the ball all the time. And now he's refusing to take care of his body, he can't flop for whistles like he used to, and he's stuck on an utterly dysfunctional "superteam" that can't stay off the injured list and isn't even sniffing the NBA Finals. How marvelous.
@@ravens4207 ~almost averaging a triple double~ LOL so what? Russell Westbrook legitimately has averaged a triple double four times. Fat lotta good it does for his teams. Thanks, though, for perfectly illustrating a point I made. Just as Harden cares more about stats than winning, so do his fans. Btw, Westbrook and Harden have five scoring titles between them. LeBron, Giannis, and Kobe? Three total. They also have ten rings and seven Finals MVPs. I know who I'd rather be, and who I'd rather have on my team. As for that crack about Harden's teammates, LOL again. He had a very efficient big man in Clint Capela and for two years he had Chris Paul, only one of the top 10 point guards of all time. Should Harden have been taking the most shots on that team? Yeah, probably. Should he have been taking more shots than Capela and Paul combined? Absolutely not. Harden's style, like Westbrook and Iverson, is great for racking up big numbers and accolades in the regular season. But it didn't work in the playoffs and it won't in the future either.
"Dedicated to the haters, the non-believers, and the disgruntled. Oh, no, I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay right here and watch Giannis rise to the top. It feels better that way"
Oh he will. He's only now reaching his prime and it seems like the team knows exactly who to recruit and sign. The Bucks are gonna be a force for a few years.
@@skippythealien9627 the dude is just a year into his max extension and it already looks worth every penny. He is 27. Jordan won his first around 27, same for LeBron. Scary hours ahead
@@nithilanamudhan6260 too bad the state of Wisconsin doesn't appreciate the Bucks or Giannis. only people in Milwaukee do everyone else in this dumb state is too worried about Aaron Rodgers leaving Green Bay
Harden seems petty AF. I understand and agree with his issues with MVP voting (he should have won in 2017 for sure), but for him to act like there is no reason for Giannis to win MVP is absurd. He never said any of that stuff about Curry or Westbrook. The comments about Giannis just driving and dunking and how he has no skill come off as petty because he did not win. This gatekeeping when referring to a fellow NBA player is laughable. Also doesn’t help that Harden flip flopped between what he considered most valuable just like the media does. Giannis certainly added fuel to the fire, but I am 100% on Giannis’s side in this beef.
@@nicolascage7345 Sure, you could say that. I think it is a stretch since that first incident between them happens all the time with different players and if Giannis never became as good as he is, then it would be irrelevant. But even if we say he started it, Harden’s pettiness, changing MVP criteria to claim he is the actual MVP, pettiness, gatekeeping and his blatant ignorance of Giannis’s greatness leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Of course you would side with Giannis. Like Harden said it’s the media narrative. If you ain’t willing to look friendly everywhere you go then you get hated
Giannis feels like the "dollar and a dream" NBA player. Humble and the worst of situations, putting in hard work, dedication and came out as a Legend in the making. Biggest and most deserving of respect attribute is how humble he is. You dont get that from most NBA players. I know a lot of them came from little to nothing, I know a lot of them put in work, but theres nobody that has done it like Giannis. Everything from his interviews to acceptance speaches and even him taking the Championship back to Greece and letting random fans hold the trophy just tells you hes a class act through and through. Im not a Bucks fan, wasnt necessarily a Gianis fan, but how can you hate a dude like that lol. Think of him what you will as a player (though I encourage us all to appreciate what we get to see from him and every other NBA superstar while we still have them) but you gotta love the dude as a person.
There's a difference between Humble and fake modesty. Giannis looks down on the NBA and America. You can literally see it in how he talks.. Now he's declaring that he did it the right way...cute. Isn't 2021 one of the weakest run in playoffs history? Along with 1971 and 2020? Yet somehow this weak run make him one of the greatest? Yup. That's Humble.
@@jacksonbashiri8118 and beating a healthy Suns... and sweeping the heat... and a hot hawks team... don't try to discredit the Bucks to bring up a stupid point. they lost to the celtics this year only because Boston is going to be a champion at the end of the day.
From what I can tell Giannis (and Steph) were more concerned about championships than an MVP award. It seemed like all Harden cared about was winning the MVP multiple times (not to say that he didn't want to win a title too). Also the reason I think Giannis beat Harden in the MVP race both times, comes down to playing defense. Giannis finished second in the DPOY voting in 2019 and averaged 27/12. Not to mention that his team improved from 44 wins to 60. As opposed to Houston who went from 65 wins to 53. And in 2020, Giannis averaged 29 and 13 and also won the DPOY award.
Play styles tell you a lot about how much a player wants to win in all honesty. Guys SAY they want to win, but they want to do it only doing it their way. Harden is a 'get mine' type of player. Those guys don't win titles. AI, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, Dominique Wilkins, Carmelo Anthony, Westbrook...you can look historically and see these kinds of players don't win chips because an inefficient, ball dominant style of play doesn't translate to winning when it matters. So much of this stupid debate was the idea of 'skill' when the ULTIMATE SKILL in pro sports is to make the game as simple as possible. Tim Duncan was always a title contender because of this. Same with Tom Brady. Same with MJ...for all his prodigious gifts, he would kill you with the same pet moves if you couldn't stop them. No sense in trying to do something flashy or showy for the sake of it when the objective was to win. That's one of the main separators for MJ from Kobe and LeBron.
James Harden and Giannis is quite literally my 2-favorite players. 😭 I loved Giannis for some year's, I even bet on him to win it all every year. He's been my Top 3 favorite players since 2016 when my sister introduced him to me. On the other hand, Harden has been my favorite player since 2012 on the Thunder. This beef was so unnecessary.
As an OKC fan: I got a lot of joy seeing Harden and KD lose to the Bucks in the playoffs, Durant and Harden are two players I will never like. Also Can we have a beef history between Russel Westbrook and Kevin Durant please?
Bro as a basketball fan and an OKC resident Russ shoulda got the boot for a rebuild faster since the two smart men moved on to non sinking ships and hey KD got some rings
Maybe you should have been mad at the front office. Okc cheaped out on harden just because of a bad finals performance despite being a solid 3rd option. As for kd, he gave 9 seasons to okc but the best help they got him from free agency/trades is dion freakin waiters? Not to mention, russ has always played out of control, leading to him taking crunch-time shots instead of kd, who's considered to be one of the greatest scorers of all time.
Rewinder: the miracle of Istanbul Collapse: how the Montreal canadiens failed to reach sniffing distance of Lord Stanley for 28 years Collapse: how the 1986 Mets went from potential dynasty to one of the worst teams money could buy Beef history: Billy Martin vs George Steinbrenner Rewinder: david Beckham’s corner kick that helped defeat Bayern in the champions league Rewinder: 2010 World Cup final Untitled: pavel Bure Untitled: Ted Williams Untitled: Johan Cruyff never winning the World Cup Untitled: R9 never winning the champions league Untitled: Adrian dantley Untitled: Vlad Sr
While I would love another soccer (football) beef, those are usually pretty rare, as secret base is an American channel… But might I also suggest you add Maxi Lopez vs Mauro Icardi for beef history?
To be fair, Harden only said "wins" should determine MVP after he had been denied the award based on wins over Steph. He was just using the voters criteria against them.
I'm just thankful SB Nation got the timeline correct. Many Harden fans always claim Harden was an innocent bystander and Giannis started the whole beef with the "passing" shot. Harden repeatedly made it a point to emphasize that he deserved the mvp over Giannis and was borderline diseespectful.
To be fair to Harden about his "flip flopping" comments about MVP in 2015 vs. 17, it could be Harden thought it was a bit hypocritical of the MVP voters to first say team success is what matters more for consideration, but when he is leading the Rockets in 2017 he still loses out to Westbrook despite that standard now being in his favor.
I think y’all missed Harden’s point at 2:27. He lost to Steph because the narrative was that winning was more important, and then he lost to Westbrook because the narrative switched and stats were more important. His point was that, whatever narrative you choose, at least 1 of those MVPs should’ve been his
Over Russ then. Cuz for anyone to think Harden was more valuable to his time more than Curry is blasphemy. Just cuz Hardens team sucked more than Stephs team, doesnt mean Harden is more valuable. Curry IS the Warriors. He's their entire system. Even when Durant was there. Harden got all the stats because he has the ball 90% of the time while he rest of the rockets just stood there and watch him dribble for 19 seconds before a stepback three and foul baiting. Paul would do the same thing. If you switched Harden and curry those years and gave curry that usage rate, Currys numbers would be astronomical and the Warriors wouldn't be as good cuz their system is based on off ball movement, something Harden knows nothing about.
This beef totally ended when Giannis arguably the best individual nba finals series performances when he averaged 35.2/13.2/5/1.8/1.2 on 62% shooting while also having the greatest single nba finals series GameScore( a advanced stats that uses all nba stats to measure the productivity of a player every game) I nba history. No other player in nba history can do that.
Giannis is 7 feet tall with insane athleticism. Kudos to him for putting in the work to maximise his gifts and becoming a superstar, but he still shoots under 30% on wide open threes. Reserve your amazement for a guy like Steph Curry who is below the league average in size and athleticism yet continues to dominate well into his 30s through his hard work and dedication.
@@redskullz1249 It’s actually much more difficult physically for Giannis to shoot the ball than Curry. He’s got the 3rd largest hands in the history of the NBA and a 7’3” wingspan. It takes a lot more training and drilling to create a reliable jump shot than it would for somebody with Stephen Curry’s body type. Giannis basically has the same problem guys like Chamberlain, Shaq and Yao Ming had. It ain’t easy being a seven footer you know…
@@redskullz1249 I agree to an extent with what you are saying. What Curry has done with his physical gifts is nothing short of incredible. But there has to be something said about Giannis. Curry's Dad was an NBA player, he has been groomed and grown up extremely privileged. His life was laid out for him. Giannis didn't start playing Basketball until later in life and grew up in poverty. What he has had to overcome, and then to stay hungry and maximize his gifts is incredible. Also take this into consideration: Try shooting a high percentage with a small ball on a smaller hoop. It is way harder than shooting with a regular sized ball on a regular sized hoop. Giannis' hands are so large that the ball feels very small. That takes a lot of practice and diligence just to be able to shoot properly. In the end what Steph has accomplished is amazing, but what Giannis has done is far more impressive to me.
@@tigeryumyums9407 Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to Giannis. His story is certainly inspirational, and his success is a testament to his hard work. But his story and his hard work are hardly unique. I mean, take Lebron; who also grew up in poverty but also with no father. He may have excelled early, but that also brought *ridiculous* expectations. Yet he has stayed hungry for nearly two decades and at age 37 (despite the Lakers struggles) is having arguably his best offensive season with no flaws, not even his shooting. But at the end of the day you can't teach height, or a 40 inch vert, or a 4-second 40. Lebron and Giannis are gifted in ways that even their peers in the NBA aren't gifted. Curry on the other hand, for all his privilege, wasn't even considered athletic enough to be recruited by a major D1 school, and has risen to arguably one of the 10-20 greatest players of all time. Different paths, for sure, but I think the guy who shouldn't even be here and yet managed to change the game, is a bit more impressive than the guy who would have probably been here even if he put in half the work.
I feel like we're missing out on better Beef's. Tanya vs Nancy Spike Lee vs Reggie/Jordan Anything in Wrestling Joey Chestnut vs Kobayashi (IMO) AND OF COURSE, SHAQ VS KOBE!!
Please, I beg of you Secret Base, please do a beef history between Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte. I know there's not a lot of bowling fans but we need this.
Right, when a guy averages only a few less points than you and is also an elite defender while you're awful on defense then he's obviously gonna win MVP, especially when he has the better team record as well
@@Chigz10 it wasn’t a few it was nearly 10 less points and harden is a n average defender, nowhere near giannis but let’s not act like it’s horrible. also cp3/capela/gordon missed a lot of games and the rockets still won 53 games
The difference between these guys is night and day… One of them is a follower, the other a leader. One of them makes it all about themself, the other makes is about his team. One of them dresses like he’s a futuristic farmer, the other in sweats and sneakers, One of them forces his way out of difficult situations, the other embraces the challenge. One of them makes excuses, the other accepts responsibility. One of them can’t lead his team to victory in the big games, the other is a champion who dropped 50 in the clinching game of the NBA Finals.
Yo secret base I’m loving the videos man keep up the great work👍🏾. By any chance is there an upcoming long basketball episode? Those are ultimately my favourites regardless keep doin you 🙌🏾💯💯
It's honestly insulting that Harden is trying to alter reality by claiming that the media built Giannis up more than him. All I heard was Harden that whole year! He was constantly being talked about on every show, way more than Giannis.
The funniest part about the “we targeted Harden” part of that ASG is that it didn’t work. He made two or three big defensive stops at the end of the game.
@@ErikDayne he always plays defense, i hate this notion that he doesn’t play defense just because you saw a few hand picked clips of him just playing bad defense or “not trying” please actually watch his games and tell me he doesn’t play defense before speaking out of your ass
And the greatest part in that is the " WE" that every one forget that's mean that the COACH and all of the others ALL STAR PLAYERS was agree with that, and I'm sure that Giannis wasn't the one coming up with that idea
This whole beef is just Harden's insecurities he legit gets mad when anybody else succeeds or does better then him. He is an amazing player but his constant whining has nuked his reputation amongst fans.
You know that one friend we all have, who thinks he/she is better than the rest of us and is constantly frustrated by not getting the recognition? When you look at Harden's eyes, they scream that vibe.
I remember hearing about Giannis getting better and winning those back to back MVPs that made people hate him super quickly, how quick time changes views
5:21 I remember in I think the 2020 season, that an MVP voter said they were gonna vote for Lebron because he was doing it while in his mid 30s, not because he was the most valuable player. Can't disagree with Harden too much there
SB, I have a video concept you should try. I came up with this idea while watching the NBA finals game 6 bucks suns, the final possessions, and as a bucks fan I was thinking "man look what Giannis had to pass all these years, the meltdowns, the short playoffs exit, the critics..." I think it is a pretty cool series where you show the great players path to their first championship like MJ, LeBron showing all the steps they had to make in order to reach glory for the first time, this only works for players who struggled, in the beginning, tho you can also use other sports not only basketball! the series could be named something like " The first" to give emphasis to the concept.
if this is your own idea, original n all, then i rate it
basically the opposite of the Collapse series
This is an awesome concept
@@chrisuncleahmad666 What should we call it? The "Rise series" or the "Succession series." Either way, I like this concept.
@@chrisuncleahmad666 or untitled
Watching Giannis’ come up has been insane over the years
Yeah he's done it the right way he's one of those people with that drive to be great and it's been an honor to watch him honestly
fr bro
I remember when AD>Giannis was a popular take
doesn't get the recognition he deserves cause he's not from the US
Giannis is like the kid in a superhero movie that is learning all the new powers he hasn't discovered yet. The fact that he's locked up a Hall of Fame resume before hitting his prime (and before other legends reached his heights) is insane. He's already in the top 25 to me and he could be top 10 if he continues to progress.
Giannis has improved every single season since he got to the league, now that he's at the peak of his powers it's about refining his game and leading his team to championships. He's the antithesis to everything Harden is; a two-way superstar, great leader and a professional when it comes to handling off the court basketball business. Both on their prime, I'd always pick the Greek Freak as the pillar of my franchise.
Much easier to build a team around Giannis if were talking about each of them in their respective primes
Giannis is the best player since MJ to build a Franchise around. Le'Bron and Harden ditched their franchises at same time Giannis signs his Super Max extension.
Facts
Giannis is not even peaked yet, he's only 27. That's just now him hitting his prime, which is scary to think about.
@@Wallyworld30 Duncan still > Giannis until he gets to five chips. The Spurs were contenders from the MOMENT those lottery balls went their way until Duncan's last game nearly 20 years later. Same idea too...humble, hard working, two way superstar in mid market elevates his team by continually improving his game and setting an example of putting winning above looking good. Duncan could've averaged 30/18 at his peak if he wanted to. Didn't make his team better.
3:15 Seeing Giannis body transformation over the years is ridiculous. He really put in that work in the gym.
Not natty tho
He's rather jacked. His work ethic must be incredible.
@@andreasschlosser6033 u act like he's some swole monster. he built muscle and filled out his body, cut fat, etc. he ain't out here looking like an NFL linebacker.
@Andreas Schlosser if that's you in your pfp you don't got room to speak 😂
@@andreasschlosser6033 He was literally malnourished in his home country. A big part of that body transformation was just consistent access to food.
One of the most detailed Beefs that goes deeper then most think
amen to that 👏
probably cause this happened recently and it’s easier to find stories and quotes from recent eras that is dominated with social media
I don't think it's that deep at all
@@EnzoPepsiCola Fr. Giannis cracks jokes and is quiet angey, Harden can be sensitive about his legacy.
But honestly both players no doubt hold each other in high regard.
Given that both Giannis and KD seem to have have a mutually competitive but very respectful relationship and KD is arguably the most skilled player in the league, I don't think his friend and teammate Harden probably thinks much different.
These guys are just super driven and the Harden beef is probably with the press more than anything. I'll admit though, they do have clashing personalities and styles.
Giannis is a quiet killer and you can see who he wants to destroy, by how hard he goes at a player or team on the court. See him v AD.
It's only dirty defenders that tend to make him raise hands.
@@divideandmultiply exactly, they may not particularly like each other (each others play style) but there's a clear level of respect there. I doubt it's even beef anymore
Giannis went from a kid selling watches, handbags, and sunglasses on the streets of Greece to become the NBA's greatest player today. What an inspiration.
kid who's 7ft too hahaha
@@billzzdimzz2990 bruh you know how many nba players are Giannis height, your pushing that arrogance narrative that height makes up Giannis winning a championship
@@Fojo. i mean if harden have that height
@@billzzdimzz2990 exactly so it comes down to a balance of how proficient you are, I don't see how "just being tall" suddenly made one special 6'10 athlete out of all forward/gaurds manages to be a 6x all star, an MVP, a final MVP, an NBA championship (which harden still doesn't have), a defensive player of the year... Nah I can't even go on 💀 obviously he has skill
@@Fojo. while only being 27 years old lmao
I Always Loved How Giannis Tweeted Too Kobe Once Before & Said.. “ Still Waiting For My Challenge “
Kobe Answered With “ MVP “
Kobe’s response: “My man....M.V.P. Greatness. 🙌🏾💪🏾 Next up: Championship. #MambaMentality”
❤️
@@cjezinne and Giannis won a championship, even though Kobe passed away. Pau Gasol tweeted something like, "he did it, brother."
@@jdapaul1351 yep. The perfect ending to that story. Giannis is my fav player
Kobe knew he had that potential.
@@jdapaul1351 damn😭
A couple of years ago I remember agreeing with harden but seeing Gianni’s improve has changed my mind. Giannis is one of the most agile and dexterous big men we have ever seen.
Agree ! The dude can shoot 3s with consistancy now !
Same, but since 2019 his overall improvements and most importantly bball iq are clearly astonishing, still don’t like the guy because i’m a harden fan and i don’t like bucks bully ball but he’s truly one of a kind
Honestly, i never thought harden was right. You don't score 20+ ppg if you don't have skills. Even shaq had great post moves outside of just bullying his defender in the paint.
@@allobinks1672 its really sad that you let a stranger make decisions for you. You don't have to dislike someone because you like someone else. Grow up.
i honestly still partially agree with harden, giannis literally doesn’t do anything but drive to the rim and get fouled every time. Imo he’s the most physically dominant player besides shaq or wilt but still not skilled almost at all. Don’t get me wrong he’s still a top 5 player and arguably the best player in the league from time to time but he is nowhere near the most skilled player in the league. At least he does try to improve and doesn’t get scared to shoot the ball unlike ben simmons.
I love Harden, but Giannis obviously came out on top with of the beef with winning the title and finals MVP.
Also loyal to the franchise which drafted him and great on offense and defense. Giannis is on pace of having a perfect legacy.
@@calamorta perfect legacy? Don’t get crazy
@@calamorta everyone would be calling harden a stat stuffer if he stayed on the bottom feeder rockets, you can’t have it both ways
Cause giannis is the better player
by facing injured Harden INJURING KYRIE injured trae injured book and injured cp3
congrats?
"I don't care about people with negative energy"
Is the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard from harden lol
And the fact that Harden of all people said it is comedy
yep. he cares. he cares deeply. reminds me of Durant
I think I've seen Harden smile once, after his incredibly unathletic put back dunk in the open key earlier this season. The dude reeks of sad energy
It's so funny seeing how things are now, Giannis is a champion and finals mvp while Harden is trying to get out of Brooklyn
According to you?
@@dubreil07 no not according to him. Thats literally just what has happened
@@qhik1938 he’s not trying to get out of Brooklyn
@@trystinlindsay5674 bro yes he is he literally hates living there. If they dont win a ring this season (which they prob wont) hes gone
@@qhik1938 true, and now Harden just confirmed he isnt signing an extension.
As a Wis sports fan, Giannis’ greatness almost automatically doesn’t make the constant Packers playoff disappointments feel as bad
yeah but they still are stunning lol.
Just try to appreciate Aaron rodgers while you got him
I’m not sure why y’all still root for the Packers more-Giannis is fantastic!
For real, it's easy to move on to watching Giannis while Aaron Rodgers is trying to get his head out of his ass and figure out where he will be playing next season. I have tuned out 100% Packer news since the loss and won't look again until we know who our Starting QB will be. Giannis is most entertaining player in sports RN.
@@withalittlehelpfrom3 Because I can watch more than 1 sport
This whole thing was such a bad look for James. Giannis won at every turn, kept improving, won a championship and was more likeable and classy throughout.
"classy" lmao
"classy" theres a comp of him injuring players
@@TyBrezzy11 On purpose?
@@hotdogboxd *"humble"👍
@@spcfl1461 Reckless. I don't think him dirty, but reckless.
Love seeing Giannis on SB, this beef actually went deeper than I remember even though it's so recent. And Giannis winning that chip is the cherry on top of it all
Harden invented “Giannis can only run and dunk” LOL
That really didnt age well😂
After Giannis invented Harden doesn't pass
@@MeatySmirk Meanwhile he averages like 8-10 assists a season
@@cs_derrick13 and Giannis does more than run and dunk lol
@@kwekack4035 Never said he doesn’t. But the “doesn’t pass” idea is just statistically a lie.
During that all star draft LeBron was about to laugh but he remembered his PR training
Almost immediately too lmao
Wait till you see this year’s all star draft LMAO
Giannis won the right way, never played for stats and of course the Defense, well deserved.
I concur with that statement.
And Giannis didn't switch to join a super team. Hail the Greek Freak!
That's adorable lol
@@g7924 and who are you?
Harden only played that way in 2019 because half the team was injured to hell and back for half the season
Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the most complete players I have seen in recent years, and he has the ring to show for it. Harden meanwhile is a huge talent that squanders it with his selfish, one dimensional play style who often intentionally plays half gas and then comes up short when it really counts. Assuming Giannis stays healthy for a few more years and gets at least one more ring, he's going to go down in history as one of the greatest of his generation.
Harden deserved it in 2019
Hardens style of play gets his whole team involved.
He's great, still needs a better outside shot and hooks for complete player.
Bad analogy of Hardens playstyle
@@unbound2424 prolly did...but does it really matter?
This is one of the weakest beefs yet... I say this as a Giannis fan who doesn't particularly care for Harden, this was mostly media hype
Yeh it's just a bunch of Harden salt, followed with a couple Giannis jabs, then nothin. Agreed, weak sauce
Bad take
@@MIKEO96 Compare this 'beef' with others, man
Hey check out the Apex Greatness Podcast, we do each episode as a season of a players career, deep diving into the narratives of each season and try to explain how that particular player got to where they did. Check it out!
Nah Giannis doesn’t care to beef at all, he’s like Tim Duncan jus puts his head down and goes to work. There’s a reason he’s not rubbing it in harden face
2:24 I don't think Harden was contradicting himself. He was pointing out the hypocrisy of the media always changing the rules of the MVP so they could give it to someone not named James Harden. When Curry won over Harden's better stats, it was because Curry had a better record. When Russ won over Harden's better record, it was because Russ (arguably) had better stats - the triple doubles.
Exactly what I was thinking, it definitely wasn’t contradictory
Changing the rules?? We all know Jordan should have ten mvps and Bron around 8-9 off of dominating the game. Hardens stats are good but when you watch him it’s hard. The man shot and averaged more free throws made than field goals for five years. That’s not mvp that’s stat chasing. And everyone knew it. Hence foul change
lmao 2017 is one of the most rigged mvp voting ballots and 2019 too. Harden was 2 rebounds from a triple double that year leading in assist with a top 3 seed. Yet Westbrook one because of 2 rebounds more a game on a sixth seed. Giannis in 2019 atleast made sense because he was the best two player on the best team but harden literally averaged 36/8/7 on 62% TS on a 4th seed... but just another year ago seeding didn't matter
Exactly lol
@Apple Sundae 2017 and 2019 was highway robbery and harden career takes a hit for losing those years, i feel like where his lack of a championship lies. he can atleast back up his legacy with 2 or 3 mvps
I'm a Giannis fan but man, seeing those numbers from Harden's 2019 season again is astounding. Gotta feel for Harden, he had some incredible seasons but Giannis' path was written in the stars
defense is the difference between the two
Harden also had way more free throws than anyone in the league, players know the fouls he drew with the arm lock... it was crazy they let him do that for so long.
@@kenadams8944Harden was leading the league in steals at the time, and was a plus+ defender in multiple metrics.
@@DCW01rockssteals alone doesn’t make someone a good defender
@@hawkeye0378 “and was a plus+ defender in multiple metrics.”
I really appreciate this series. Y'all do a great job.
@sweet home 2 chill I just came for the beef history.
Dude get a life
Harden must have been so mad that Giannis won the NBA championship on the year he chose to join a superteam, while Giannis did it with the team that drafted him without another superstar like Durant and Irving. He also won FMVP while ending the series with a 50pts game. Giannis is a beast on offense and defense. He's way better than Harden.
Well...Giannis simply is the better player...what else to say?
Facts
You can't really deny it overall one player actually cares the other is currently overweight and averaging 5 plus turnovers lol
@@lostnemesis harden is still as good all around in all fairness where harden lacks in defense giannis lacks in offense but recently biased is gonna lead the way especially with these new fans and the floppin but both top tier superstars either way
@@ck4514 I agree
@@ck4514 I just agree with Bill Simmons and his take on James harden I don't believe he's going to age well he doesn't take care of his body and he's not the same player that he once was you look at the history of Superstar players like him who were talented who played a lot of minutes in the playoffs but really weren't super focused on taking care of their body they normally start crashing around this point and he's kind of doing that right now some of that is he doesn't care it looks like he doesn't want to be in Brooklyn but you can't deny it looks like he's lost a little something.
Giannis spit in the face of the ring-chasing Super team era. He is MVP for that alone.
He got lucky facing injured teams
@@rogeliomora417 So i guess you discredit most of the Warriors championships and Lebrons?
@@giorgoslolos9132 If you aren’t stupid, you never discredit any championships. But to say that Giannis had a difficult road to his ring is not very accurate. I’m glad he got it but it wasn’t a struggle.
@@giorgoslolos9132
Didn't lebron try to call the Rockets and Celtics a super team? Drexler didn't join Hakeem until his 12th season and Charles Barkley 13th season. Hakeem was post knee surgery and in his 15th season when he got Pippen. The Boston Celtics youngest Big 3 player (KG/Paul/Ray) was older than Miami oldest big 3 when they joined. Side note. Did you see Derrick Rose during the Heat 3 era?
Lebron beat only one 50 win team in the playoffs from 2004-2010. The lone team was a Detroit Pistons that didn't even have Ben Wallace. How did lebron respond to beating only one 50 win team in the east? By leaving and creating a super team at 25 years old while promising seven champs. At least a winning record in the Finals during this time? How did he respond? By leaving again. I like how lebron fans have to resort to calling everyone on his team trash. Even after 2010. I wonder where they learned that from?
"I don't believe I've played for a superteam"
Lebron James when asked if Miami paved the way for superteams after game 5 in 2017 vs the Warriors.
Most lebron fans want to focus on the few years vs the Warriors. Instead of the fact that lebron been team hopping for Allstars since 2010. Over a decade now. Didn't Stephen Curry just finish his rookie season at the time. Beside, The Warriors have never won a champ without a Major injury to their biggest opponents top two stars. Curry fans tend to skip this part. They rather blame it on Andre or Bogut injuries like they are the stars on an already loaded team.
Yet lebron fans want to talk about this instead of lebron team hopping for Allstars since the 2010 off-season. Over ten years of picking his own teammate and he still has a losing record in the Finals. Had he won more, no one would have room to say anything about him jumping teams for All-stars. Sorry. This is not going to age well in the history book for the Warriors or Lebron. Hearing both Lebron and Curry fans preach "2016 goat" is really cute. Sorry. Hey at least lebron has his Mickey Mouse Trophy.
@@giorgoslolos9132
I like how curry fans try to say they did it on their own. When it was clearly Jerry West. Brside. Now they lost their team of almost 50 years. What did Oakland get in return? Blacked out Town jersey that the fans were buying up like hot cakes. Hey at least they'll alway have 73-9. But seriously. Warriors need to return to Oakland. Sonics need to return to Seattle.
The Warriors have never won a champ without a Major injury to their biggest opponents top two stars. Curry fans tend to skip this part. They rather blame it on Andre or Bogut injuries like they are the stars on an already loaded team. This includes the dirty Zaza play against the spurs Kawhi Leonard. Kinda ironic because he used the same dirty move that Bruce Bowen was known for.
Giannis definitely won this beef. Harden has played with multiple mvps and still chasing a ring after all these years. Giannis stayed in a tiny market and built a championship team in only a few years.
Tbh harden woulda won a ring twice if he wasn’t so unlucky. 2021 nets woulda beat the bucks and the 2018 rockets woulda beat the warriors. Respect to giannis and he’s one of my favourites but you can’t really hate on harden when he has been incredibly unlucky
@@R_Velli_ bro what??? It’s his fault those teams never manifested into championship teams. Injuries happen you gotta deal with it, cp3 was hurt and in game 7 harden played historically bad. The nets he forced his way out
@@dirtyjerde13 played awful but lost by single digits. Injuries are a part of the game, but context is needed. To say a dumb statement like this ‘harden isn’t a winner’ is dumb when it requires context
@@R_Velli_ going 0-29 on 3 pointers in 2018 gets you out of the conversation of “being unlucky”
@@uppertroupe Chris Paul got injured. His efficiency sucked, but the rockets lost by 9 points in game 7. If CP3 plays, the spacing will improve, he will hit mid range shots and can get more wide open looks. Dumbass bruh
Just to note: Harden saying "I thought it was all about winning." Wasn't a contradiction. It was a sleight at the voters, who used the winning argent to give the award to Steph before. More of a "keep the same energy." Comment
Yea I will scream to the end of time that they did him dirty in 2017. Just not any time after lol.
Harden saying that he thought wins mattered wasn't him contradicting himself, it's him calling back to when he lost to Steph and the response was largely telling him that Steph won because wins mattered. It's not him having a new opinion, it's him leveraging the arguments that were used against him earlier and it's a valid argument to make tbh.
tbh those 2019 numbers by harden are crazy! but giannis did something no one expected thats season, he turned the bucks into the best team in basketball, which is crazy when you think that they were literally the worst team in basketball when got drafted lol. What more crazy is though is giannis is now averaging 29/11/6 with a steal and block a game, leading the bucks to the 2nd best record in the east and how easy it looks for him now. Damn i didnt realised the rocket twitter team was like that, you gotta be humble in defeat and in victory.
2019 - 2013
you mean 6 YEARS tf you talking about mf shtfup
29/11/6 in the east getting first rounded
@@TyBrezzy11 do you face warrior all time😂😂tf are you taking
@@TyBrezzy11 who hurt you small child, here come here, put down the phone, take some deep breathes...bruh
@@TyBrezzy11 ...yeh...well it don't matter does it, cause the Bucks got 1st seed...n the rockets didn't, Harden is incredible and get the highest score for t he Rockets game in and game out then...but hes such a 1 man army kinda guy...that don't work no more in the NBA 1 needs their team play to win
Even if you had tunnel vision when it came to Giannis offense, he's an elite defender. For Harden to say a player with that kind of defensive ability lacks skill says a lot about what he values as a player.
I think Harden would say that if you got genetically blessed with freak athleticism and a 7'5 wingspan, you should damn well be a good defender. Being that long and athletic can cover a multitude of defensive sins (not saying I'm in total agreement with Harden, but I do see where he's coming from)
@@colejames423 There's far smaller players than Harden that play far better defense than he does
@@colejames423 feat Jrue Holiday and Chris Paul
@@colejames423 Fair enough but then those Bigman don't translate to well on the other end of the court since they lack that dexterity and footwork to get it to the basket, plus Giannis pretty fast to the rim compared to i dunno the Joker
@@basileldose1719 yeah for sure. I just think that’s Harden’s point. When you’re 7 foot with elite athleticism and a giant wingspan, you didn’t actually do anything to achieve that. It’s just a gift of nature. So it’s way easier to be good at basketball than if you’re a more normal/less physical gifted person.
Again not saying he’s totally right, but hes not wrong either
Giannis has won every accolade possible and his only 27
He didn't win a gold medal.
@@BautistaCaparelli *in the NBA
@@Benvillle he hasnt won coach of the year.
Or 6th man. Guys overrated
His defense is overrated. Especially in this era.
Looked forward to this one for a long time. Good job SB!
7:15 Scoring only 2 field goals en still getting nearly 20 points is the most Harden thing ever.
Giannis is a BEAST nothing more to say 💙
overrated
@@TyBrezzy11 I see you spamming this Giannis hate under all these comments. Stop kidding yourself mate
Giannis throwing the ball at harden is hilarious . 😂
This feels like a Wilt-Kareem type beef (without the obvious cultural subcontexts)
100% feels like that. Especially the media aspect of it
To be fair to Harden, he deserved more than 1 MVP during his stint as a Rockets.
to be exact he deserved Giannis mvp
Over WB easily, he avgd 29 11 and 8, damn near a TD.
@@TyBrezzy11 LMFAO FUNNY
Finally! I was waiting for it a long time thanks SB :)
Kamaru Usman Colby Covington Beef history maybe? i’d love a deep dive of that
In terms of basketball skill set-
I’m taking Giannis ALL DAY LONG.
Giannis is undoubtedly the better player. But more skilled? No.
@@gorandragic1728 huh? Harden isn’t even great at drawing fouls anymore.
@@gorandragic1728 what do you mean by skill?
In terms of skill set I'm taking kendrick perkins over run and dunkpo
@@supay_inca y’all just be saying stuff he’s averaging more free throw attempts a game than he has the past 3 years 😐 at least know yo stats before you just go saying stuff he definitely still gets to the line you stuck on the first month of the season Roberto
rockets fan here. I’m with giannis
You ain’t a Rockets fan then tf
@@LoganNagol he flaw af
@@TheKendeHD fr
@@LoganNagol yall realize you can cheer for a team and a person right
Giannis has to be one of the best stories in sports history
I love how enthusiastically wrong Harden was about how much skill it takes to do what Giannis does. Anyone who has played basketball or even watches regularly knows that getting to the rim regularly takes a lot of skill, regardless of how tall you are. There are dozens of seven footers in the NBA. Only one of them is doing what Giannis does.
Also? Harden gets like 30% of his points by flopping to get foul calls. I won't say that takes no skill, but... glass houses, buddy.
Ultimately, Harden's obsession with the MVP award is the reason why he doesn't deserve it. Guys like LeBron, Kobe, Giannis etc could score 40 a game if they really wanted to. But they don't, because for them it's about winning. Even Durant joining Golden State was a winning move. You don't join a team with Steph and Klay if you're worried about your stats. Harden as a superstar decided to follow the path of guys like Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony who were ball dominant and all about their stats. That's why he declines in the playoffs... you don't have the energy that other stars will after 80+ games if you're hogging the ball all the time.
And now he's refusing to take care of his body, he can't flop for whistles like he used to, and he's stuck on an utterly dysfunctional "superteam" that can't stay off the injured list and isn't even sniffing the NBA Finals. How marvelous.
Exactly. Harden has never been about winning first, just Harden-first
Even if you are a gifted athlete it still takes WORK. Speed and strength still take conditioning to maintain and improve, same as practicing a skill.
he’s almost averaging a triple double
“hogging the ball all the time” what was he supposed to give more possessions to eric gordon and nene??
@@ravens4207 ~almost averaging a triple double~
LOL so what? Russell Westbrook legitimately has averaged a triple double four times. Fat lotta good it does for his teams. Thanks, though, for perfectly illustrating a point I made. Just as Harden cares more about stats than winning, so do his fans.
Btw, Westbrook and Harden have five scoring titles between them. LeBron, Giannis, and Kobe? Three total. They also have ten rings and seven Finals MVPs. I know who I'd rather be, and who I'd rather have on my team.
As for that crack about Harden's teammates, LOL again. He had a very efficient big man in Clint Capela and for two years he had Chris Paul, only one of the top 10 point guards of all time.
Should Harden have been taking the most shots on that team? Yeah, probably. Should he have been taking more shots than Capela and Paul combined? Absolutely not.
Harden's style, like Westbrook and Iverson, is great for racking up big numbers and accolades in the regular season. But it didn't work in the playoffs and it won't in the future either.
"Dedicated to the haters, the non-believers, and the disgruntled.
Oh, no, I don't want you to leave.
I want you to stay right here and watch Giannis rise to the top.
It feels better that way"
Yoooo a Tyler song x Giannis?
@@austin5944 That would be awesome, and yes that's where I edited it from
DJ DRAMA GANGSTA GRIZZILS
I can't wait for the 1-hour long episode of beef between KD and Russ
it’s crazy to see how giannis went from a stick figure into a renaissance painting right before our eyes.
The growth of Giaanis is insane. Hope he wins more championships
Oh he will. He's only now reaching his prime and it seems like the team knows exactly who to recruit and sign. The Bucks are gonna be a force for a few years.
I hope so too, but not with Milwaukee
@@cubsfan1205 why not?
@@nithilanamudhan6260 I don’t like Wisconsin teams
When Giannis join with Luka in Dallas, it's game over for another team.
I wish I was 7 foot tall and just run and dunk. Instead I had to learn skill 😂
These words did not age well at all
it's scary considering all that Giannis has accomplished and the guy is still a few years away from 30. He is only getting better and better.
@@skippythealien9627 the dude is just a year into his max extension and it already looks worth every penny. He is 27. Jordan won his first around 27, same for LeBron. Scary hours ahead
@@skippythealien9627 is he?
@@jasonmoukala8909 yep the 200 million extension kicked in only this season.
@@nithilanamudhan6260 too bad the state of Wisconsin doesn't appreciate the Bucks or Giannis. only people in Milwaukee do
everyone else in this dumb state is too worried about Aaron Rodgers leaving Green Bay
Harden seems petty AF. I understand and agree with his issues with MVP voting (he should have won in 2017 for sure), but for him to act like there is no reason for Giannis to win MVP is absurd. He never said any of that stuff about Curry or Westbrook. The comments about Giannis just driving and dunking and how he has no skill come off as petty because he did not win. This gatekeeping when referring to a fellow NBA player is laughable. Also doesn’t help that Harden flip flopped between what he considered most valuable just like the media does. Giannis certainly added fuel to the fire, but I am 100% on Giannis’s side in this beef.
Giannis started it tho
@@nicolascage7345 Sure, you could say that. I think it is a stretch since that first incident between them happens all the time with different players and if Giannis never became as good as he is, then it would be irrelevant. But even if we say he started it, Harden’s pettiness, changing MVP criteria to claim he is the actual MVP, pettiness, gatekeeping and his blatant ignorance of Giannis’s greatness leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Kawhi should have won the MVP in 2017
However both Harden and Kawhi defo deserved it over Westbrook that year
@@ndrocca imo it really started with giannis comments at the all star draft
Of course you would side with Giannis. Like Harden said it’s the media narrative. If you ain’t willing to look friendly everywhere you go then you get hated
Harden definitely was being sarcastic when he said I thought winning was more important when he lost the MVP race to Russ
For sure
Giannis feels like the "dollar and a dream" NBA player. Humble and the worst of situations, putting in hard work, dedication and came out as a Legend in the making. Biggest and most deserving of respect attribute is how humble he is. You dont get that from most NBA players. I know a lot of them came from little to nothing, I know a lot of them put in work, but theres nobody that has done it like Giannis. Everything from his interviews to acceptance speaches and even him taking the Championship back to Greece and letting random fans hold the trophy just tells you hes a class act through and through. Im not a Bucks fan, wasnt necessarily a Gianis fan, but how can you hate a dude like that lol. Think of him what you will as a player (though I encourage us all to appreciate what we get to see from him and every other NBA superstar while we still have them) but you gotta love the dude as a person.
HUMBLE?
There's a difference between Humble and fake modesty. Giannis looks down on the NBA and America. You can literally see it in how he talks.. Now he's declaring that he did it the right way...cute. Isn't 2021 one of the weakest run in playoffs history? Along with 1971 and 2020? Yet somehow this weak run make him one of the greatest? Yup. That's Humble.
Man I’ve been dreaming about this videos!! Thank you !!!
The Greek freak got the last laugh he won the championship an MVP of the Finals!
After beating an injury riddled nets team sure
@@jacksonbashiri8118 and beating a healthy Suns... and sweeping the heat... and a hot hawks team... don't try to discredit the Bucks to bring up a stupid point. they lost to the celtics this year only because Boston is going to be a champion at the end of the day.
Incredible timing making this video
From what I can tell Giannis (and Steph) were more concerned about championships than an MVP award. It seemed like all Harden cared about was winning the MVP multiple times (not to say that he didn't want to win a title too). Also the reason I think Giannis beat Harden in the MVP race both times, comes down to playing defense. Giannis finished second in the DPOY voting in 2019 and averaged 27/12. Not to mention that his team improved from 44 wins to 60. As opposed to Houston who went from 65 wins to 53. And in 2020, Giannis averaged 29 and 13 and also won the DPOY award.
Play styles tell you a lot about how much a player wants to win in all honesty. Guys SAY they want to win, but they want to do it only doing it their way. Harden is a 'get mine' type of player. Those guys don't win titles. AI, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, Dominique Wilkins, Carmelo Anthony, Westbrook...you can look historically and see these kinds of players don't win chips because an inefficient, ball dominant style of play doesn't translate to winning when it matters. So much of this stupid debate was the idea of 'skill' when the ULTIMATE SKILL in pro sports is to make the game as simple as possible. Tim Duncan was always a title contender because of this. Same with Tom Brady. Same with MJ...for all his prodigious gifts, he would kill you with the same pet moves if you couldn't stop them. No sense in trying to do something flashy or showy for the sake of it when the objective was to win. That's one of the main separators for MJ from Kobe and LeBron.
@@manuginobilisbaldspot424 Well said. It’s a team game at the end of the day. Nobody has ever won a chip in the NBA by themselves.
@@PlusUltraAdrian
Especially when you're the Warriors. How many Allstars did they have again?
@@JamesHardenoverKobe13 4, but in 2015 and 16 (Steph’s MVP years), they didn’t have Durant.
@@PlusUltraAdrian
Only four?
Finally I've been waiting for this one for soo long.
James Harden and Giannis is quite literally my 2-favorite players. 😭 I loved Giannis for some year's, I even bet on him to win it all every year. He's been my Top 3 favorite players since 2016 when my sister introduced him to me. On the other hand, Harden has been my favorite player since 2012 on the Thunder. This beef was so unnecessary.
Thank you !! I've been waiting for this topic for years
As an OKC fan: I got a lot of joy seeing Harden and KD lose to the Bucks in the playoffs, Durant and Harden are two players I will never like. Also Can we have a beef history between Russel Westbrook and Kevin Durant please?
Bro as a basketball fan and an OKC resident Russ shoulda got the boot for a rebuild faster since the two smart men moved on to non sinking ships and hey KD got some rings
Doesn't Westbrook have beef with everyone in the league?
Need that
@@spazz351 No, but he does play with a lot of passion
Maybe you should have been mad at the front office. Okc cheaped out on harden just because of a bad finals performance despite being a solid 3rd option. As for kd, he gave 9 seasons to okc but the best help they got him from free agency/trades is dion freakin waiters? Not to mention, russ has always played out of control, leading to him taking crunch-time shots instead of kd, who's considered to be one of the greatest scorers of all time.
Giannis is a humble player who doesn't want to beef with anyone but it was Harden the one who is the petty for the MVP award.
Rewinder: the miracle of Istanbul
Collapse: how the Montreal canadiens failed to reach sniffing distance of Lord Stanley for 28 years
Collapse: how the 1986 Mets went from potential dynasty to one of the worst teams money could buy
Beef history: Billy Martin vs George Steinbrenner
Rewinder: david Beckham’s corner kick that helped defeat Bayern in the champions league
Rewinder: 2010 World Cup final
Untitled: pavel Bure
Untitled: Ted Williams
Untitled: Johan Cruyff never winning the World Cup
Untitled: R9 never winning the champions league
Untitled: Adrian dantley
Untitled: Vlad Sr
While I would love another soccer (football) beef, those are usually pretty rare, as secret base is an American channel… But might I also suggest you add Maxi Lopez vs Mauro Icardi for beef history?
No
When the lights shine bright, Giannis plays his heart out, Harden shuts down.
thats why he bounced out of first round
so far, giannis has had the better career
To be fair, Harden only said "wins" should determine MVP after he had been denied the award based on wins over Steph. He was just using the voters criteria against them.
I'm just thankful SB Nation got the timeline correct. Many Harden fans always claim Harden was an innocent bystander and Giannis started the whole beef with the "passing" shot.
Harden repeatedly made it a point to emphasize that he deserved the mvp over Giannis and was borderline diseespectful.
To be fair to Harden about his "flip flopping" comments about MVP in 2015 vs. 17, it could be Harden thought it was a bit hypocritical of the MVP voters to first say team success is what matters more for consideration, but when he is leading the Rockets in 2017 he still loses out to Westbrook despite that standard now being in his favor.
I think y’all missed Harden’s point at 2:27. He lost to Steph because the narrative was that winning was more important, and then he lost to Westbrook because the narrative switched and stats were more important. His point was that, whatever narrative you choose, at least 1 of those MVPs should’ve been his
Over Russ then. Cuz for anyone to think Harden was more valuable to his time more than Curry is blasphemy.
Just cuz Hardens team sucked more than Stephs team, doesnt mean Harden is more valuable. Curry IS the Warriors. He's their entire system. Even when Durant was there. Harden got all the stats because he has the ball 90% of the time while he rest of the rockets just stood there and watch him dribble for 19 seconds before a stepback three and foul baiting. Paul would do the same thing. If you switched Harden and curry those years and gave curry that usage rate, Currys numbers would be astronomical and the Warriors wouldn't be as good cuz their system is based on off ball movement, something Harden knows nothing about.
Exactly everyone’s over looking that
No joke, been waiting for this beef video for years
This beef totally ended when Giannis arguably the best individual nba finals series performances when he averaged 35.2/13.2/5/1.8/1.2 on 62% shooting while also having the greatest single nba finals series GameScore( a advanced stats that uses all nba stats to measure the productivity of a player every game) I nba history. No other player in nba history can do that.
Lebron could do that easily
@@brianbadonde9251 Then after all these years why hasn't he done it yet?
Shaq's 38 and 16 per game against the pacers has to be up there too.
@@TheBucksFan I still remember when people used to say "LeBron can average a triple-double if he wanted to" until Westbrook did it first LOL
@@TheBucksFan he's taking it easy
Any time I start one of these and hear this guys voice I can never get through it. The elementary school reading cadence just kills me
Never seen a player as dedicated to improving himself as Giannis
Giannis is 7 feet tall with insane athleticism. Kudos to him for putting in the work to maximise his gifts and becoming a superstar, but he still shoots under 30% on wide open threes. Reserve your amazement for a guy like Steph Curry who is below the league average in size and athleticism yet continues to dominate well into his 30s through his hard work and dedication.
@@redskullz1249 It’s actually much more difficult physically for Giannis to shoot the ball than Curry. He’s got the 3rd largest hands in the history of the NBA and a 7’3” wingspan. It takes a lot more training and drilling to create a reliable jump shot than it would for somebody with Stephen Curry’s body type. Giannis basically has the same problem guys like Chamberlain, Shaq and Yao Ming had. It ain’t easy being a seven footer you know…
@@redskullz1249 Say no more my guy, today he's over 30%😅
@@redskullz1249 I agree to an extent with what you are saying. What Curry has done with his physical gifts is nothing short of incredible. But there has to be something said about Giannis. Curry's Dad was an NBA player, he has been groomed and grown up extremely privileged. His life was laid out for him. Giannis didn't start playing Basketball until later in life and grew up in poverty. What he has had to overcome, and then to stay hungry and maximize his gifts is incredible. Also take this into consideration: Try shooting a high percentage with a small ball on a smaller hoop. It is way harder than shooting with a regular sized ball on a regular sized hoop. Giannis' hands are so large that the ball feels very small. That takes a lot of practice and diligence just to be able to shoot properly. In the end what Steph has accomplished is amazing, but what Giannis has done is far more impressive to me.
@@tigeryumyums9407 Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect to Giannis. His story is certainly inspirational, and his success is a testament to his hard work. But his story and his hard work are hardly unique. I mean, take Lebron; who also grew up in poverty but also with no father. He may have excelled early, but that also brought *ridiculous* expectations. Yet he has stayed hungry for nearly two decades and at age 37 (despite the Lakers struggles) is having arguably his best offensive season with no flaws, not even his shooting.
But at the end of the day you can't teach height, or a 40 inch vert, or a 4-second 40. Lebron and Giannis are gifted in ways that even their peers in the NBA aren't gifted. Curry on the other hand, for all his privilege, wasn't even considered athletic enough to be recruited by a major D1 school, and has risen to arguably one of the 10-20 greatest players of all time. Different paths, for sure, but I think the guy who shouldn't even be here and yet managed to change the game, is a bit more impressive than the guy who would have probably been here even if he put in half the work.
Great video but can we please get the Michael Jordan (Bulls) vs Isiah Thomas (Pistons) beef history please!
I would of just responded: "I bet I'd score 35 a game if I got away with excessive traveling on every drive, like Harden."
I wish Giannis at the post game presser with both trophies would've said "not bad for a guy that just runs and dunks" but I'm petty like that.
I feel like we're missing out on better Beef's.
Tanya vs Nancy
Spike Lee vs Reggie/Jordan
Anything in Wrestling
Joey Chestnut vs Kobayashi (IMO)
AND OF COURSE, SHAQ VS KOBE!!
That Harden seems like a really humble, grounded guy. I am sure he has won a ton of championships by now with his selfless attitude. :D
Please, I beg of you Secret Base, please do a beef history between Sean Rash and Jason Belmonte. I know there's not a lot of bowling fans but we need this.
Can someone explain why Giannis's shirt at 03:27 mins says "Cream City"?
That seems like a rather strange thing to put on a sports jersey
Harden should have tried playing defense
Right, when a guy averages only a few less points than you and is also an elite defender while you're awful on defense then he's obviously gonna win MVP, especially when he has the better team record as well
@@Chigz10 it wasn’t a few it was nearly 10 less points and harden is a n average defender, nowhere near giannis but let’s not act like it’s horrible. also cp3/capela/gordon missed a lot of games and the rockets still won 53 games
@@johnnyDowe15 *below average defender
The difference between these guys is night and day…
One of them is a follower, the other a leader.
One of them makes it all about themself, the other makes is about his team.
One of them dresses like he’s a futuristic farmer, the other in sweats and sneakers,
One of them forces his way out of difficult situations, the other embraces the challenge.
One of them makes excuses, the other accepts responsibility.
One of them can’t lead his team to victory in the big games, the other is a champion who dropped 50 in the clinching game of the NBA Finals.
Yo secret base I’m loving the videos man keep up the great work👍🏾. By any chance is there an upcoming long basketball episode? Those are ultimately my favourites regardless keep doin you 🙌🏾💯💯
It's honestly insulting that Harden is trying to alter reality by claiming that the media built Giannis up more than him. All I heard was Harden that whole year! He was constantly being talked about on every show, way more than Giannis.
I think when Giannis hit Harden in the head with the basketball, AND THEN got the assist was the peak of this beef
Yall should do Beef History of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg
Giannis winning MVP/Dpoy/FMVP this year too. Top 10 all time by this year
Calm down
@@capceno6946 No u look out. Cause Giannis is coming for everything.
Colby versus masvidal leading up to their main event pls love these videoes been watching for years
Watching Harden dribble for 23 seconds and do a step back 3 is the worst basketball I've ever witnessed.
i loved watching 2014-2019 houston, unless your fav team was warriors or spurs. They were beating the brakes off your squad off him isogoding
Then, we saw Giannis and Harden as teammates in the 2022 All-Star Game. That's crazy.
5 years from now, James harden untitled
Look at "Adetokoubo". So inspirational.
The funniest part about the “we targeted Harden” part of that ASG is that it didn’t work. He made two or three big defensive stops at the end of the game.
So you’re saying Harden decided to play defense once in his life and it was in a game that didn’t really count lmao
@@ErikDayne he always plays defense, i hate this notion that he doesn’t play defense just because you saw a few hand picked clips of him just playing bad defense or “not trying” please actually watch his games and tell me he doesn’t play defense before speaking out of your ass
@@ErikDayne this take been outdated since 2016 bro, go watch a live game for once and not just bleacherreport
And the greatest part in that is the " WE" that every one forget that's mean that the COACH and all of the others ALL STAR PLAYERS was agree with that, and I'm sure that Giannis wasn't the one coming up with that idea
Harden got his fangirls bring up the all star game bayahayayahaha
I forgot the comedian’s name, but the dude doing this voiceover is funny. Glad he’s doing these videos.
This whole beef is just Harden's insecurities he legit gets mad when anybody else succeeds or does better then him.
He is an amazing player but his constant whining has nuked his reputation amongst fans.
I never fail to watch the whole video without being entertained! Incredible as always guys!
You know that one friend we all have, who thinks he/she is better than the rest of us and is constantly frustrated by not getting the recognition?
When you look at Harden's eyes, they scream that vibe.
I remember hearing about Giannis getting better and winning those back to back MVPs that made people hate him super quickly, how quick time changes views
Man, I forgot about that INSANE streak of 30+ games with 30 points! But Giannis really has had the purest rise to superstardom then NBA has ever seen
5:21 I remember in I think the 2020 season, that an MVP voter said they were gonna vote for Lebron because he was doing it while in his mid 30s, not because he was the most valuable player. Can't disagree with Harden too much there
And Harden ate all that beef last off season. Its crazy how he looks so unfit in Brooklyn compared to his years in Houston.
Been Waiting On This One…I Knew It Was Coming🤣💯🗣