The Milwaukee Bucks should look to their Wisconsin neighbors to the north as a cautionary tale about how difficult it is to win a championship(s) in professional sports.
Once upon a time, the Green Bay Packers’ future looked bright. They came out of nowhere to win a Super Bowl with a 27-year-old quarterback smack dab in the middle of his prime. He was surrounded by offensive weapons up the ying yang, an elite defense and a creative coach.
They rolled the league the following season by going 15-1 in the NFL and sporting an unstoppable offense. The destiny word was being thrown around while describing this team.
Unfortunately, here we are 12 years later and Green Bay has yet to win another Super Bowl; nonetheless, make an appearance in the game. They made multiple conference championship games, lost several home playoff games and failed to live up to the expectations. They could be looking at a long and painful rebuild after their playoff-eliminating loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night. My, how quickly the tables turned.
The Bucks, too, won a championship with their best player beginning his prime, as Giannis Antetokounmpo was 26 when they won the NBA Finals in 2021. He was surrounded by a well-balanced team where the sum is greater than its parts, the defense has been elite for years now, and the head coach is one of the best in the NBA.
Sound familiar?
If the Bucks aren’t careful, they, too, will squander opportunities to win multiple championships. There’s a strong case they already have.
Milwaukee won 60 games in Mike Budenhozler’s first season at the helm and rolled through the NBA. Budenholzer unlocked Antetokounmpo and the defense, giving them a true identity to lean on. Their 8.6 net rating is the third-highest since the 2017-18 season.
Shoot, they were breezing through the playoffs by winning 10 of their first 11 games. With a 2-0 lead over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals, it looked like they would walk into the NBA Finals. That’s when everything began to fall apart with a double-overtime loss to the Raptors in Game 3. Toronto ran the table, eliminated the Bucks and the rest is history.
Milwaukee came back with a vengeance the following season and were even better. Their 9.4 net rating is the best mark since 2017-18 and they were on pace for 63 wins before COVID-19 messed everything up. The NBA paused the season and only later resumed it in a bubble in Orlando. The Bucks never recovered, losing to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
The Bucks finally got over the hump in 2021 thanks to a couple of key personnel moves before and during the season. Antetokounmpo proved himself to be the greatest basketball player alive with a massive Final’s performance that ended with a 50-burger in Game 6, winning the Finals.
Milwaukee has a built-in excuse for not defending their title last season, as Khris Middleton got injured in the first round of the playoffs. The Bucks pushed the Celtics to seven games and ground throughout the series. There’s no shame in that, but it’s another lost opportunity in a field where you can quickly become irrelevant again.
The core around Antetokounmpo is aging. And quickly. Middleton is 31, Jrue Holiday 32, Brook Lopez 34, Joe Ingles 35, Pat Connaughton 30. It won’t be long until the Bucks’ front office has to make some difficult personnel decisions—that could begin this offseason when Middleton has a $40 million player option.
Antetokounmpo recently spoke to the media about how they are focused on building good habits. He tried to quiet the anxious storm he felt around the team and their recent blowout losses. It was yet another inspiring speech in a growing list of them.
One word of caution to Mr. Antetokounmpo: Sometimes urgency is a good thing.
He will not always be surrounded by this level of talent and be the most physically dominating player in the most athletic league in the world. If the Bucks aren’t careful, they could be left standing with just one championship trophy. Just like their neighbors to the north.
