Giannis Cements Himself As An All Time Great By Becoming The 6th Youngest Player Ever To Join The Exclusive 20,000 Points Club

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The other day, it was a big deal when LeBron officially started the 50,000 Points Club. Just an insane number that we most likely aren't going to see someone else join for a very, very long time. It's a testament to his skill, longevity, consistency, and overall dominance for the last 2 decades.

But we're also talking about a Club that maybe 1% of NBA players will ever join. 

Before you get to that level, there are of course earlier benchmarks that certainly deserve their recognition, and that starts with the 20,000 points club. In all of NBA history, that's sort of always been considered the line of demarcation as to what separates the legends/HOFers from the lesser players. For example, there have only been 56 players in all of NBA history to crack the 20,000 Points Club, and of those 56, only 3 are not HOFers (Joe Johnson, Tom Chambers, Antawn Jamison). Heading into last night, there are 8 current players in that group, all of which are going to the HOF.

After last night, we can now add a 9th current player (and lock for the HOF) in Giannis

Look, it may not be the 50K Club, but the 20K club is still very much a big deal, especially for an all time great like Giannis is on track to being. Even if you think this was more of a formality, there's something to be said about being the 6th youngest person in NBA history to break through and join this group. Considering where Giannis started, I'm not sure how anyone couldn't find that impressive as hell.

To think he cracked this group all while not really shooting 3s and being a poor FT shooter is partially what makes this stand out more to me. That's a ton of buckets. 

As you saw, Giannis is determined to break out of this Club and make it to the next exclusive group of the 30K club. Once you do that, you instantly become a top 10 scorer of all time. As of now, Moses Malone is 10th all time with 29,580. We just saw KD do this not too long ago, and he's now 8th with 30,240. The next closest we have right now are Harden (27,186) and Westbrook (25,921). Harden might have a shot considering he just dropped 50 and is still getting it done, but he'd need around 2-3 more years I think at this current level to get there. Not impossible, but an uphill climb for sure.

So, how realistic is it that Giannis finds another 10,000 points before he hangs it up? This is his age 30 season, so say he continues to play around 60ish games a season for the next few years. Obviously with something like this you have to assume decent health, so let's say Giannis' injury stuff stays at the level we're currently seeing. Playing 60-65 games a year, Giannis has proven to be a lock for around 1,800-2,000 points a season (regular season). 

His last 4 seasons:

- 67 games / 2,002 points

- 63 games / 1,959 points

- 73 games / 2,222 points

- 49 games / 1,508 points (this season)

The Bucks have 21 games left in their season, so say Giannis plays in 15 of them, at his current averages, that's another 450 points, so it's fair to assume he finishes the season in that 1,800-2,000 point range.

Is it crazy to assume that Giannis can give you 5 more years at this current pace as long as he has normal health and plays around 60 games a season? I certainly don't think so. We're right in the middle of Giannis' prime NBA years, he shoots well over 60% from the floor, and has 3 straight seasons averaging at least 30 a game. 

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest Giannis could get close to 10,000 points over the next 5 seasons, and at that point he's only 35-36. Given by those ages he'll most likely be in the middle of another extension, I think it's fair to suggest that Giannis will most likely be around in his age 37-38 seasons, so really you could make the argument that he needs 10,000 points in the next 7-8 years which absolutely seems doable.

Now that Giannis is in, who might be next? Anthony Davis is up next at 18,824, followed by Paul George (18,697) and Kyrie (18,433), and you'd be crazy to think they won't get it. After they break through it'll be a while though, with Jokic next at 15,753. He's about 4-5 years away given his current scoring pace, which would take him to his mid 30s. After him, things get dicey, maybe KAT has a chance (14,442), but after him, you have guys like Tatum/Mitchell/Luka etc that are still nearly a decade away.

So congrats to Giannis on the historic achievement, and the race to 30K is officially underway.