Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are capitalizing on the Shaq-Kobe model

How would Shaq and Kobe's Lakers do in today's NBA? 

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and the Milwaukee Bucks are doing their best to give fans the answer. 

Milwaukee jumped to a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 113-102 in Game 3 behind 38 points from Middleton and 33 from Giannis. 

On Monday's "First Things First," Nick Wright said Sunday's performance painted the Bucks' dynamic duo in an entirely new light.

"They are a worse version of this model at almost every level … but the model is the Shaq-Kobe Lakers," he said.

Wait, what?

Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive titles between 2000 and 2002, compiling a 12-3 record in those three NBA Finals series.

On the way, O'Neal and Bryant combined to create arguably the most dominant tandem in NBA history, with Shaq punishing teams inside and Kobe conquering the perimeter.

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During the three-peat, Shaq averaged 29.9 points and 14.5 rebounds and shot 55.2% from the field, while Bryant put up 25.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists and shot 44.7% from the field. 

Antetokounmpo has career playoff marks of 25.1 points on 52.4% shooting, with 11.5 rebounds, but this postseason, he has taken it up a notch, putting up 29.2 points on 54.6% shooting with 13.0 rebounds.

A significant increase in production is also the case with Middleton. In his playoff career, he is averaging 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists, shooting 43.4% from the field. But this year, he's putting up 23.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists, even though his field-goal percentage has remained essentially the same (43.3%).  

Wright continued to explain the similarities between the tandems.

"You've got a superstar who is a guaranteed 30 [points] and 10 [rebounds] in every single playoff game, essentially. You have a second option who is clearly the second-best guy on the team — which Kobe was during that championship run — but who becomes the No. 1 option in the fourth quarter. Giannis knows as much and admitted as much [Sunday] night."

Wright is referring to Antetokounmpo's postgame comments after Game 3, when he acknowledged that from a scoring standpoint, the responsibility for closing the game falls on Middleton.

Middleton took that responsibility seriously Sunday, when he scored 20 points in the final 12 minutes, turning a two-point lead for the Hawks entering the fourth quarter into an 11-point win for the Bucks.

Giannis scored 28 points through the first three frames and five in the fourth. 

Wright also commented on the makeup of the 2021 Bucks and the three-peat Lakers, comparing Milwaukee's Jrue Holiday to the Lakers' Derek Fisher and likening the Bucks' complimentary players to Los Angeles'.

"You have a point guard who's incredibly important to what you do, but you can't really rely on him enormously on the offensive side, and a team that is essentially unbeatable if the role players are knocking down 3s," he said. "That model carried the Lakers to three straight championships."

The Bucks and the three-peat Lakers aren't quite the same teams when it comes to 3-point shooting, considering that this postseason, Milwaukee is making 11.3 of 36.0 3-point attempts per game. Those Lakers made 5.9 of 16.4 3-point attempts over the course of their back-to-back-to-back title run.

However, the Lakers' numbers were good enough for fifth-most per game in the 2000 playoffs, fourth in the 2001 playoffs and fifth in the 2002 playoffs. 

The Bucks' 11.3 made 3s per game this postseason are 10th in the NBA.

Added Wright: "I'm not predicting [three straight championships] for these Bucks because as great as Giannis is, he's about 92% of what Shaq was, and as excellent as Khris Middleton is, he's about 60% of what — entering his prime — Kobe Bryant was. But it might be good enough for one title."

One title would be huge for a Milwaukee franchise that in December inked Antetokounmpo to the largest deal in NBA history: a five-year, $228 million contract extension. 

According to FOX Bet, winning a title is exactly what the Bucks are expected to do, as they're favored to win the 2021 NBA Finals, at -111.

Giannis might very well be the new-age O'Neal, and Middleton might be the perfect Robin, a la Bryant.

But as Wright said, if they're even a percentage of what Shaq and Kobe were — which was legendary — the Larry O'Brien Trophy could soon be making its way out of Tinseltown and into the Midwest. 

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