Alright, so I got thinking about Giannis the other day. You see him now, just dominating, MVP, champion, the whole deal. It made me curious, you know? I wanted to actually go back and really look at his rookie year, 2013-14. Not just read the summary, but kind of relive it through what I could find.
My Process Looking Back
First thing I did, I pulled up his stats from that first season. Pretty straightforward. I remembered they weren’t exactly setting the world on fire. Yeah, found them again: something like 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists a game. Played in 77 games, started 23. Seeing those raw numbers again really hits home how much he wasn’t the Giannis yet. Just a kid, really.
Next, I figured stats only tell part of the story. So, I started digging around for actual footage from that year. Found some old highlight reels, even parts of games. Man, he was skinny! Like, incredibly lanky. You could see flashes, these moments where he’d do something crazy with his length, maybe a block or a weird drive to the hoop. But there was a lot of awkwardness too, moments where he looked kinda lost, which makes sense for a teenager moving across the world and jumping into the NBA.
Remembering the Team Context
Then I forced myself to remember what that Bucks team was like. Oof. They were bad. Like, really, really bad. I checked the standings just to be sure – yup, 15 wins, 67 losses. Worst record in the league that year. He got thrown right into that dumpster fire as a raw 18/19-year-old project pick. That context is super important, I think. Hard to shine when the whole situation is just bleak.
Digging for Details
I spent some time trying to recall or find little things from that year. Stuff beyond the box score.
- Remembered hearing about how new everything was to him, adjusting to America, not just the NBA.
- Found mentions of his development, how the team saw him as this long-term project. Nobody really knew he’d become this good, this fast.
- Saw discussions from back then, people calling him “The Greek Freak” but more for his potential and physique than actual production yet.
It was interesting piecing together not just what he did, but what people thought of him back then. Lot of uncertainty.
Final Thoughts from This Dive
Going through this whole process, looking at the numbers, watching the old clips, remembering the team situation… it was a good exercise. It’s easy now to just see the superstar. But revisiting that rookie year, you see the starting point. The rawness, the flashes of brilliance hidden in a tough spot, the sheer potential that wasn’t fully formed. It makes his journey from that skinny kid on a 15-win team to who he is now feel even more wild when you actually take the time to look back at the beginning steps. It was definitely time well spent just to get that perspective again.
