MILWAUKEE — The Summer Olympics are over and the NBA is on hiatus for the next month, so much of the discussion in professional basketball may be based on barbershop debates and hypotheticals like:

Is Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo no longer the best player in the Eastern Conference?

In the latest episode of the Ticket & the Truth podcast, former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce demoted Giannis, who was an All-NBA player (8 times), Defensive Player of the Year, League MVP (twice), and NBA Finals MVP and champion.

“You can’t say that about (Joel) Embiid there. And you can’t say that about Jayson Tatum there. I don’t dispute that,” Garnett said. “He’s probably the fourth-best player in the East.”

Garnett said “fourth best” but named only Philadelphia 76ers center and 2023 MVP Embiid and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who last season joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players in league history to be named to the All-NBA first team in the same year he won an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal.

The only other players from last season that come to mind are Jalen Brunson (guard) of the New York Knicks and Tyrese Haliburton (guard) of the Indiana Pacers. They were the only other players from the East, along with Antetokounmpo and Tatum, to make the All-NBA team last season.

But honestly, is Giannis the fourth best in the conference?

Garnett’s comments could be due to a recency effect. Tatum and the Celtics are NBA champions. Embiid averaged more than a point per minute in his injury-shortened season. And Giannis and the Bucks’ last two playoff runs were over quickly. But even if you use the 2023-24 season as a benchmark, Antetokounmpo is still the best player in the conference.

In the 2023-24 season, Giannis became the first player in NBA history to average over 30 points on 60% shooting. For the second consecutive season, he averaged over 30 points, over 10 rebounds and over 5 assists per game – a standard that has only been achieved seven times.

Giannis is a fixture on the All-NBA First Team. Tatum currently has a streak of three seasons and Luka Doncic has four. But Giannis has the longest active streak at six seasons.

In the regular season and postseason, Giannis was the alpha on a team of All-Stars (Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard). In the last NBA Finals, Tatum was good but not as productive as his MVP teammate Jaylen Brown. In the Olympics, Tatum’s shooting dropped and he barely got any playing time.

The arguments for Embiid don’t make sense. He has played 60 or more games four times in his eight seasons – including 39 games in the 2023-24 season. His 76ers teams have never advanced past the second round of the NBA playoffs. Giannis has played an average of 81 regular-season and postseason games in his career. His greatest skill, besides his points, rebounds and defense, may be his availability.

At the start of the 2024–25 season, the Eastern Conference player hierarchy will still look like this:

1. Antetokounmpo
2. Tatum
3. Embiid