After entering the season with hopes of claiming their second title in four years, the Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season, with superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo missing the entire series due to a calf strain.
As Jamal Collier of ESPN writes, Milwaukee made plenty of changes to try to advance further in 2023/24, starting with firing Mike Budenholzer and trading for Damian Lillard. The Bucks also cut ties with Adrian Griffin, Budenholzer’s replacement, during the season, hiring longtime head coach Doc Rivers in Griffin’s place. Yet the end result was the same: Antetokounmpo injured and a first-round exit.
With the NBA’s second-oldest roster, the Bucks looked brittle throughout the season, particularly on the defensive end, according to Michael Pina of The Ringer. Khris Middleton, Lillard and Antetokounmpo only combined to play 42 games together, and while they went 28-14 in those contests, they’ve all had their share of injuries the past few seasons.
Pina wonders if either Antetokounmpo or the Bucks — or even both — will eventually decide its best for the two sides to part ways, particularly if Milwaukee slogs through another up-and-down season again in ’24/25. That could turn out to be the most prudent choice for both parties, Pina contends.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Lillard, who missed Games 4 and 5 after aggravating an Achilles injury, returned for Thursday’s Game 6 loss. He finished with 28 points and four assists. While the team was obviously disappointed to be eliminated by Indiana, Middleton appreciated how much work Lillard put in to return on Thursday, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It meant a lot,” Middleton said. “He was going through a serious thing that had been bothering him for a while. He felt he was good enough to go out there and play tonight. I thought he gave it everything he had also. So it’s a lot of respect from me and I think from everyone inside that locker room that he went out there and played 35 minutes. We needed him tonight, but just couldn’t pull it out.”
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic gives an “incomplete” grade regarding the fit of Lillard and Rivers due to Milwaukee’s injuries. However, it’s clear the Bucks need to improve their roster, particularly adding more wing defenders, which will be a tall order for a team facing luxury tax restrictions this offseason, Nehm adds.
- Mark Deeks of HoopsHype provides his offseason preview for the Bucks.
- At the end of Game 6, Patrick Beverley threw a ball in the stands behind Milwaukee’s bench two times, hitting a pair of Pacers fans. According to Lauren Merola, Shams Charania and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, one of the fans was directing obscenities at Beverley in the lead-up to the incident, which was apparently escalated when the fan said, “Cancun … Cancun on three” when the team was breaking a huddle. The NBA is looking into the incident, per The Athletic.
- Beverley also refused to speak to a very well-regarded ESPN producer — Malinda Adams — who wasn’t subscribed to his podcast after the game. On Friday, Adams announced (via Twitter) that both Beverley and the Bucks reached out to her and apologized.
Typical woke media not even allowed to say “cancun” anymore smdh
What does that even mean?
Exactly, what the heck does that mean?
I googled it as I was wondering the same thing. link to si.com
It is the TNT equivalent to “GONE FISHIN'” .. You know, like going on vacation because you’re no longer playing.
(mercy me the level of knuckle dragging dullness has reached epic proportions)
Apparently, in Adam Silver’s hierarchy of wrongful acts, assaulting a fan isn’t as high up there as refusing to speak with an ESPN reporter, at least a well regarded one.
I don’t see anything from Silver comparing either incident but since ESPN pays a chunk of the NBA’s bills and since talking to the media is part of Beverley’s actual job, it would make sense if he thought that was the more serious infraction.
I didn’t see anything either. But one warranted an immediate apology, from both he and his team. The other appears to be something they’ll let play out.
Yes, his contract requires him to speak with ESPN at times, but his contract also, at least as clearly, prohibits any physical interaction with anyone else in the stands. Acts of omission are generally not considered as serious as acts of comission. But, when you’re in the process of negotiating a media deal with the party suffering the omission, it could flip.
Punishment should match what a fan would receive: banned from that arena for life. If Beverly does sign another contract, that team does so knowing he is not allowed to play in games at Indy. Seems fair, no?
Fair perhaps, but the two are governed by different paper. The paper governing the rights of a team vs a ticketholder (aka the ticket) says the team can exclude the ticketholder from the arena at its discretion. The paper governing the rights of a team vs an opposing team and/or any of its players (the NBA Association Agreement and Bylaws, the CBA, etc.) say the team can’t do a darn thing, only Silver can.
It will be interesting to see how the NBA addresses how the Bucks handled their injury report. Giannis was listed as ‘questionable’ for game 6, yet during his exit interview admitted he still was unable to run at game speed. Wasn’t even close, according to team sources.
It’s a team built around Giannis and Giannis didn’t play. Of course they lost. I hope bucks and fans and media do not overreact. No team can thrive in the playoffs without their best player.
Pina says every day Giannis is leaving the Bucks. He has said it for four years and keeps saying it. What a joker.
oh
Hasn’t been a good year for the Bucks…
They keep scrambling to please Giannis…
Bud – fired
Lillard – traded for
Jrue – traded away
Griffin – fired
Rivers – hired
It’s going to be a crazy off season…
Maybe it’s time too do what is best for the team instead of what Giannis thinks is best for the team. Obviously the moves that were made at the end of last year haven’t worked. They have a General Manager who they are paying a big amount of money to run the team and roster. If they are going to let Giannis run the team and decide who comes and goes get rid of the GM. If the Bucks need to make changes maybe its time too move Giannis and his brother. They probably could get plenty for him. They traded Alcindor and got a nice return but the injuries hurt them with Meyers really affect the return.