Giannis And The Bucks Are Getting What They Deserve
After a blowout 122-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night, the Milwaukee Bucks are 1-4 in the 2024-25 NBA season.
The same Bucks who feature a former two-time MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, an eight-time All-Star in Damian Lillard, and a solid roster of role players. The same Bucks who were NBA champions in 2021, and had the best regular-season record in the league during the 2022-23 season. The same Bucks who were expected to once again be contenders in the Eastern Conference this year.
How did it all go wrong? It's simple: they sacrificed a winning culture for a losing one. After a stunning series loss to the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, they fired head coach Mike Budenholzer, because somebody needed to be the scapegoat. They replaced him with Adrian Griffin, who lasted 43 games before he too was fired, due to disconnect with his players. Worst of all, though, they traded away Jrue Holiday -- the team's heart and soul -- in the deal for Lillard.
It was a classic case of submission to adversity, which is ironic given Antetokounmpo's famous postgame presser after that series, in which he preached the importance of avoiding that mindset. He should've listened to his own words, because there is little doubt that his fingerprints are all over the Bucks' moves since then. Even if he hasn't directly orchestrated them, they have all been made as a response to his wishy-washy long-term commitment to Milwaukee (which is now once again in flux).
Unsurprisingly, the Bucks have suffered as a result. After replacing Griffin with Doc Rivers (whose hiring can only be explained as an attempt to make Giannis comfortable), the Bucks finished the 2023-24 season 17-19 and lost in the first round again. It's worth noting that Giannis was injured during that series, but he was also injured for most of the first round in 2023, and that didn't save Budenholzer.
So far this season, the Bucks don't even look like a playoff team. They will probably bounce back from their rough start and at least tread water around .500 due to their high-end talent, but the fact of the matter is, their identity is gone. Holiday's leadership and Budenholzer's coaching acumen were a major part of Milwaukee's success, and provided the Bucks with a well-oiled structure. Now they have a disorganized mess, with a non-committal star, and a coach who may as well be a babysitter.
Giannis and the Bucks did this all to themselves. They made their bed by overreacting to the result of a seven-game series, despite being the best team in the NBA for the previous 82 games, and these are the consequences. After telling the world about how there was no failure in sports, Giannis has failed. He has failed himself.