This looks really bad for Giannis? Yes, in fact it’s worse

A.M. Hoops makes a lot of videos, sometimes with interesting points. This one however manages to state the obvious while missing the point.

For starters the only thing about this play that is pathetic is Giannis’ decision making. I wrote a post

game analysis of that Hawks game and it was 100% on Giannis that they lost due to plays like this. Giannis was trying to stat pad as usual, disregarding his team mates as usual, got stopped as is often the case and then was slow returning because he expected a call. You can even see him looking at the official and half raising his hands in protest.

He then goes on to say that the Bucks are worse without Dame. Duh. Giannis doesn’t play defence, that whole “Dame is the problem” narrative makes no sense. He pins the blame on the front office for not adding multi-dimensional players, but it doesn’t fully reconcile how two elite offensive talents produce such a mediocre result—implying a disconnect between individual brilliance and team failure that’s not fully explored. It is also true that this Bucks team is “cooked” but we have seen a lot of things that are much better when Giannis doesn’t play, not the opposite. Why on earth would the Nets want Giannis? Of course he doesn’t want to go to Brooklyn. He doesn’t want to go anywhere in fact. The video paints the Bucks as asset-poor and desperate, yet floats trading Lillard as a viable option. If they’re truly out of moves, trading a star like Lillard should be a significant reset, but the Herro example is presented as underwhelming without explaining why it wouldn’t help Giannis. This creates a paradox: they’re helpless, yet they have a big chip to play, but the outcome is dismissed as insufficient without justification.

The video then makes a valid point, ie that Giannis is schizophrenic in his statements. This has gone on for years. He says he doesn’t want to leave then he says he might leave. Then straight after that he says he will never leave, etc. Teams are not “circling the Bucks like vultures” though. His trade value is falling all the time as more and more teams realise he just can’t bring results. There’s a tension between portraying Giannis as loyal yet ready to bolt. If he’s explicitly said he’d never demand a trade and wants to stay as long as the team is winning, the assertion that he’d “leave in a heartbeat” feels exaggerated or speculative without concrete evidence of a shift in his stance (e.g., a new statement contradicting his prior ones). The video assumes his frustration overrides his stated commitment, but it doesn’t bridge that gap with clear reasoning or new developments beyond body language.

The video also acknowledges Giannis’s resilience in 2021 (overcoming a hyperextended knee, a 0-2 deficit) but doesn’t consider whether he could again will the team to success despite current flaws. It frames the Bucks as irredeemably broken, yet Giannis’s current MVP-caliber play suggests he’s still a championship-level force. The narrative of inevitable collapse clashes with his individual excellence, leaving an unaddressed question: if he’s this good, why is turnaround impossible? The answer is obvious. Giannis is no longer that good, so why even talk about trade rumours? The whole league can see it! And worse of all he is not a team leader by any measure.

He talks about the coaching changes but doesn’t see that the real problem is not with the coaches. Giannis is uncoachable. We have yet to see a minute of Dame and Giannis in the playoffs is correct but who is to blame for that? Even if Giannis is not pretending fake injuries (which is likely) I would say that it is his fault that he gets injured that often.

The play analysis is almost funny. Because at no stage does it state the obvious: all these problems are due to Giannis not having skills! He can’t screen, everyone knows that! It is why the Warriors don’t want him. He just doesn’t understand angles. Giannis is not playing like an MVP as the video claims. Sure he is 3d right now but that means nothing. It is simply by adding up trash position votes, nobody really thinks he is playing at MVP level this season. No trade can save the Bucks and Giannis. Because Giannis is the problem, not the solution.

The way Giannis has handled these past two seasons has reduced his team mates trade value and led the Bucks to a dead end.