Giannis Antetokounmpo announced ambitious plans to reach the top of the NBA’s all-time scoring list within four to five years. The Milwaukee Bucks star made the declaration after reaching 21,000 career points in Saturday’s victory over Brooklyn. Antetokounmpo believes he can join basketball’s greatest scorers by age 35, challenging projections that the feat would take longer.
“I think to get to the top of the scoring list, it’s not six, seven, eight years away,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think, in my opinion, it’s four years away. Four, five years away, 4 1/2 years away.”
The two-time MVP outlined a specific vision for his remaining career. He stated that by age 35, he expects to have established himself among the all-time scoring leaders. Antetokounmpo emphasized this is not merely hopeful thinking but a concrete goal he intends to achieve.
“I think when I am going to be 35 years old and sitting in this chair, and we want to have a discussion of I am in the top list of all time in scoring, I would have talked that into existence,” Antetokounmpo said. “And not just talking it into existence because I believe that I’m going to do it. It’s something that I want to do.”
Antetokounmpo has averaged 2,055 points over his last four seasons. If he maintains an average of 2,000 points annually through the 2029-30 season, he would eclipse 30,000 career points. That total would place him among the top 10 scorers in NBA history.
The timeline requires sustained health and elite production through his mid-thirties. Antetokounmpo has scored 464 points through 15 games this season. The Bucks forward became the sixth-youngest player to reach 21,000 points, joining Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain and Kevin Durant.
“Just to be on that list with them is incredible,” Antetokounmpo said. “Have I accomplished as much as them? I don’t think so. Do I have a lot of room to improve and room to grow and years to keep on writing my own legacy? Yes.”