Giannis Antetokounmpo made NBA history for his shooting performance in 2024. Here’s how his game has evolved

Posted by author March 6, 2025 NBA

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Giannis Antetokounmpo has put in an extraordinary amount of work on offense to evolve his game in recent years.

It’s part of the reason Antetokounmpo became the first player in the history of the league last season to average 30 points per game on 60% shooting – a feat he is on track to duplicate this year with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Part of Giannis’ evolution includes becoming one of the best midrange shooters in the NBA.

Here’s a look at how Antetokounmpo’s increased commitment into the midrange space has helped him become an even more dangerous scorer in the league, beyond his already intimidating presence close to the rim.

Giannis eighth in FG percentage in the NBA with more midrange shots

Heading into March, Antetokounmpo was eighth in overall field-goal percentage at 60.6% while shooting more midrange shots than he ever had at 4.3 per game – tied for sixth-most in the league.

Antetokounmpo had made 46.7% of them, trailing only Kevin Durant (56.3%), Devin Booker (50.9%) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (51.4%).

Antetokounmpo trailed only DeMar DeRozan in field goals made and attempted from 16-24 feet per game, and only Cam Thomas (48.7%), Booker (48.5%), Damian Lillard (47.5%) and Jamal Murray (46.6%) made them at a higher clip for players attempting at least 2.0 per game from that distance.

Giannis still dominates at the rim

Of course, Antetokounmpo remains singularly dominant less than eight feet from the rim (67.8% on 650 attempts), but he made 50% (55 of 110) from 8-16 feet and 46% (64 of 139) from 16-24 feet.

“I’m getting better,” he said. “I’m getting good at it.”

It’s why he had made (64) and taken the third-most shots (139) from 16-24 feet in the league through February, behind only DeRozan and Murray.

For context, Antetokounmpo made 37 from that distance all last season, on 100 attempts.

“I’m happy it’s coming around,” he said with a firm head nod. “It’s about damn time. Sh–. I’m happy about that. There’s more, there’s more, there’s more. There’s more. I gotta evolve. There’s more, so many more things I can still add.”