Giannis Antetekounmpo Does Not Think Himself As Undisputed Face Of NBA For Now

The Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetekounmpo's story from an unheralded 15th pick in the 2013 NBA draft to becoming one of the top players in the league is one of the best in recent memory and has captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere.

In an appearance on Serge Ibaka's "How Hungry Are You?" YouTube show, Ibaka had some questions for the 2021 NBA Finals MVP and especially about Antetekounmpo's desire to live a quiet life after his career is over much like San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan.

At this point, Ibaka brought up the question about Antetekounmpo being the undisputed face of the league, to which Antetekounmpo believes is not completely true just yet.

"I feel like I'm one of the faces of the league. LeBron (James) is still playing. Steph's (Curry) just won a championship, KD (Kevin Durant) is still hooping, (Joel) Embiid's killing it, (Nikola) Jokic back-to-back MVP, Luka 'Magic' (Doncic), there's a lot of people out there," Antetekounmpo mentioned.

To Antetekounmpo's credit, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is arguably in a class of his own despite being in his 20th NBA season.

In the 10 games that James has played, he has put up averages of 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.1 steals in 35.7 minutes of action–though he has missed three games this season due to injury.

Other than his exploits on NBA hardwood, James' impact outside of it rivals that of all-time great names like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

James' personal line of shoes with Nike is one of the most highly regarded since entering the league and has been a favorite for bigger players who enjoy being inside the paint which led to him signing a lifetime Nike deal in 2015.

He also uses his influence as much as he can for charity work, which includes the LeBron James Family Foundation and the I Promise School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

In terms of social activism, James has been one of the most vocal athletes in the sports world as he supported Colin Kaepernick in the former NFL quarterback's U.S. national anthem kneeling protests, the 2020 tragedies of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Jacob Blake among many others.

Though he also caught flack on social media for some of his statements, specifically with the Daryl Morey issue during the Hong Kong Protests in 2019, James is easily the biggest star the NBA has on its hands.

There is no doubt that Antetekounmpo is well on his way to reaching James' status, and some would argue that he already is next in line when James and fellow megastar Stephen Curry do call it a career.

But for Antetekounmpo, his focus right now is to bring the Bucks another NBA championship and they are early favorites to do so after starting the season with a league-best record of 10-2.