Draymond Green is shutting down disrespect on Giannis Antetokounmpo as forcefully as he shut down the Greek Freak himself on the floor in that legendary March 2025 game between the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks. This time, the former DPOY is coming to the defense of the 2x MVP after former NBA champion Channing Frye diminished the Greek superstar’s skill set on Road Trippin’. Responding directly to Frye’s claim that Antetokounmpo plays like a “seven-foot running back” on The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors veteran minced no words, shutting down the narrative surrounding Antetokounmpo’s offensive limitations.
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“I think this is a dumb statement,” Green declared on his show. “I think this is a dumb statement for several reasons. To call one of the greats in this game, Giannis Antetokounmpo, a seven-foot running back is pathetic. It takes a lot of skill to dribble the ball from rim to rim and dunk the ball in two dribbles. That’s actually a skill set. It takes a lot of skill to penetrate and get into the paint and get finishes or kick-outs. That’s an incredible skill set. I’ve seen Giannis take people to the post and put them in the rim. That is a skill set. Giannis, if I’m not mistaken, is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year. Could be wrong on that. Could be one. I don’t really give a d*mn which one it is because that’s beside the point.”
Although Giannis won DPOY once, for the 2019-20 season, not twice, Green took particular issue with using Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid’s vastly different specialty to undermine Antetokounmpo’s legacy.
“But to then throw the skill set of Joel Embiid in there to try to validate this terrible a– point is actually where I disagree,” Green continued. “Because I’m here to tell you, there’s not many people in the entire NBA with the skill set of Joel Embiid. So to act as if, ‘Oh, he’s a running back because he don’t have the same skill set as Joel Embiid.'”
Green took a page from Frye’s book and forcefully put Shaquille O’Neal into the argument to make his point.
“Okay, cool. Well, Shaq was a running back because he also didn’t have the same skill set as Joel Embiid. Not saying Joel Embiid is better, because you all know Shaq is my favorite player of all time, and I do not think Joel Embiid is better than Shaquille O’Neal. But to make this comparison as, ‘Oh, he don’t have that skill set.’ Okay. So, a lot of the greats—Kevin Garnett did not have the skill set of a Joel Embiid.
“So, is Kevin Garnett not great? So, to try to throw in Joel Embiid’s skill set because we all know how elite that is to make this point is ridiculous. If anybody’s ankle, knee, hip, or shoulder is messed up, they can’t really do exactly what it is that they do.”
Green has his own feelings about Frye since the peak Warriors-Cavaliers rivalry at the 2016 championship. But he blasted the critique as disrespectful and designed purely for clickbait.
“So this is dumb. This is middle of the summer, nothing to talk about. Lets try to create some ratings. That’s whack. Calling somebody that great a seven-foot running back—like, come on, that’s clickbait.”
For what it’s worth, most would agree with Green. Fans were already up in arms after a mailbag episode of Road Trippin’, where Channing Frye questioned Antetokounmpo’s longevity and technical offensive range.
“Giannis is a 7-foot running back,” Frye stated on the podcast. “He’s just coming at you. If his ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, are injured, he can’t play his style. He does not have the skillset. Meaning shooting, middys, post ups, 3s, to balance that out like Joel Embiid does. Joel when he’s injured, he can just shoot fadeaway and still get 30 PPG. Giannis doesn’t have that skillset because of his physicality.”
Frye’s comments mirror long-standing narratives that have followed Antetokounmpo since James Harden made his infamous “run and dunk” remarks during the 2019–20 MVP race. However, while critics routinely emphasize Antetokounmpo’s lack of elite perimeter jump-shooting, the results on the floor tell a drastically different story.
Equipped with a championship trophy, a Finals MVP award, two regular-season MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year award, and nine All-NBA selections, Antetokounmpo has consistently translated his unique blend of physical dominance and floor vision into postseason success.
Dray would know. He put in the work to hold Giannis to 0-for-7 from the floor in March 2025 and used that performance to bolster his DPOY case that season, though he finished third behind winner Evan Mobley.
Meanwhile, Embiid’s undeniable perimeter skill set has yet to yield a single Eastern Conference Finals appearance due to ongoing health setbacks during playoff runs.
With Antetokounmpo embarking on a new chapter in his career alongside Klay Thompson, Bam Adebayo, and Andrew Wiggins in South Florida, the age-old debate surrounding physical dominance versus finesse shooting remains a focal point of NBA media discussions.
But as Green made clear, reducing a generational icon to a simple football analogy ignores the incredible talent required to dominate at the highest level.