Deer are without peers as long wait ends
It’s a 50-50 proposition as Giannis’ big night stops Milwaukee’s half-century title drought
MILWAUKEE — Before the season, Giannis Antetokounmpo declared his intentions. He wanted to stay and win it all in the only NBA city he’s ever known. And Tuesday night after the Milwaukee Bucks’ 105-98 championship-clinching win, he found an empty seat and cried.
During the NBA Finals against the Phoenix Suns, Antetokounmpo declared he was no Michael Jordan. But his Game 6 performance — 50 points and 14 rebounds — was legendary, earning MVP honors and capturing Milwaukee the way Jordan once ruled Chicago. The title ended a 50-year drought since the Bucks had last won a championship.
Hours before the victory, a mob marched down Old World Third Street chanting the fans’ longtime mantra: “Bucks In Six!” In 2013, point guard Brandon Jennings captured their hearts when he boasted how the Bucks, the bottom seed, would take down the Miami Heat in six games. It didn’t happen. But eight years later, Jennings, labeled as “Bucks Legend” when shown on the jumbo screen, was in the house to witness the completion to his prophecy.
Over the past eight years, the franchise has latched on to other promises — “Own The Future” and “Fear The Deer.” Their personality, however, remained consistent with a certain Midwestern romanticism of hard work and hustle.
The roster was manufactured by 38-year-old Jon Horst, whose journey to becoming one of the youngest GMs in the league consisted of shoveling excrement while working as a trailer park superintendent. The man calling the plays, Mike Budenholzer, started his professional career in Denmark before returning to work as Gregg Popovich’s video coordinator. And the face of this movement only agreed to take up basketball in Athens so that his mother, father and three brothers could receive 500 euros a month.
Antetokounmpo — spindly and
raw when taken 15th overall in the 2013 NBA draft — came to embody the antithesis of NBA notoriety while overpowering the league. The playbook created by superstars who orchestrate their ways into bigger and brighter markets, he shunned. And last December, Antetokounmpo committing to the Bucks for a five-year, $228 million extension.
“I want to thank Milwaukee for believing in me,” Antetokounmpo said during the postgame ceremony on the Fiserv Forum floor. “I want to thank my teammates, man. They played hard every fricking game. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here in this city. I wanted to do it with these guys. I’m happy. I’m happy we were able to get it done.”
Around Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee didn’t build a superteam but rather created a crew for winning basketball.
The Bucks bartered their future to get Jrue Holiday, the key acquisition of the offseason. The price to get a lockdown perimeter defender came with sticker shock: Milwaukee had to part with Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, two future firstround draft picks and the rights to swap two additional first-rounders. No one, however, was lamenting the loss of first-rounders in Game 6 as Holiday made his impact during the Bucks’ comeback.
Though Holiday spent most of the night mired in yet another shooting funk (4 of 19 from the floor), his shot clock-beating corner 3-pointer gave Milwaukee a 7166 lead in the third quarter. Holiday scored seven of his 12 points in the frame.
This season, while Holiday provided the missing element, Khris Middleton performed as the resident sidekick.
On Tuesday night, Middleton wasn’t nearly as effective as he had been through the Finals (averaging 24 points, six rebounds and four assists) but when there was a midrange jumper to make, Middleton showed up — nailing a 17-footer with 56.9 seconds remaining.
Besides the future Olympians, Bobby Portis, who became an obsession of the fan base in just one season, showed up. The “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” serenade followed all his momentum-swinging plays, especially after Portis found an open lane and scored two of his 16 points to extend the Bucks’ lead to 92-86 in the fourth quarter. Also, there were Pat Connaughton flailing and coaxing Devin Booker into an offensive foul and moments later, P.J. Tucker swatting the ball out of a frustrated Booker’s hands.
“I think it’s just a credit to the players,“Budenholzer said. “We’ve been pushing. We’ve been trying to get better. The players embrace everything. They’re amazingly coachable. They take it, soak it in and make the best of it.”
Chris Paul scored 26 points to end his first NBA Finals appearance in his 16th season. Booker added 19 points but shot just 8 for 22 and missed all seven 3-pointers after scoring 40 points in each of the last two games.
“Great group of guys, hell of a season,” Paul said. “But this one’s gonna hurt for a while.”
Especially since the Suns were in position to send the series back to Phoenix when they led 47-42 at halftime, But Antetokounmpo took over and scored 20 of the team’s next 35 points. He tried to stuff every shot he defended — and was mostly successful with five blocks. He even made his free throws (17 of 19).
And in his home, his city, Antetokounmpo cemented his legacy.