Return to normal self
Middleton carried Bucks in playoffs, looks forward to improving in offseason
In the waning moments of the Milwaukee Bucks’ season-ending playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers on May 2, the broadcast cameras caught Khris Middleton in an emotional state, covering his face with a towel, eyes red.
It was the second straight playoff that saw the Bucks eliminated after the first round, and it was the second straight where Middleton shouldered the burden of carrying the Bucks while star Giannis Antetokounmpo was injured. More than that, fellow star Damian Lillard had missed two games against Indiana and was hobbled for another plus an overtime.
“I wasn’t too emotional,” Middleton demurred afterward. “I mean, it just sucks. You give it your all, you don’t win? It sucks. Simple as that. I mean, losing sucks. End of your season sucks. It’s part of it. You move on. That’s all.”
Middleton tied a playoff-career best in averaging 24.7 points per game in the six games against Indiana, which included a career-best 42-point effort in Game 3 – tied for the fourth-best scoring game in franchise history.
“I realize that, which I knew, Khris is tough,” Antetokounmpo said from his vantage point. “He’s a tough player. When he’s rolling, he’s tough. He knows how to get to his spots. He’s extremely smart. He knows how to manipulate the game. He’s a great leader, people follow him.”
Middleton recorded four double-doubles in the Pacers series, too, a career-best en route to averaging a career-high 9.2 rebounds per playoff game. He also averaged 4.7 assists in about 38 minutes per contest. This while he also played through a
“He’s a great leader, people follow him.” Giannis Antetokounmpo Milwaukee Bucks forward
sprained right ankle suffered in Game 2 and after he an aggravated left leg injury in Game 4.
“He’s been dealing with injuries all season long, he’s been banged up even toward the end of the season, and Giannis is out, then I go out, it was a perfect opportunity for – and I think he actually rolled his ankle or hurt his knee again during that time – and it was an opportunity right there in front of him to just be like man, I’m hurt, I can’t go, you know?” Lillard said. “And not only did he play, he rose and carried us.
“Even in Game 3, when I kind of came up hurt at the end of regulation, he hit two big shots to force overtime and then to keep the game going. Coming out Game 5, the game he had, us being able to play through him, him being able to make tough shots, make plays, directing traffic, I just think his presence was huge for our team in this series while we didn’t play.”
To Lillard’s point, it wasn’t the easiest year from a physical standpoint for Middleton.
He was under a minutes restriction through December following a 2023 offseason knee surgery, and then missed 16 games with a severely sprained left ankle suffered when Kevin Durant slid his foot in Middleton’s landing space on a jumper. He had to have emergency dental surgery after taking a blow to the face against New York on April 7.
But Middleton ended the season reasonably healthy – to the point where he acknowledged he won’t be rehabbing any part of his body after as surgery. He underwent left wrist surgery in 2022 that forced him to miss the first 20 games of that season.
“This the first time in a while I don’t have to go through a rehab stage, so that’s fun,” he said. “Get to spend time with my family, my kids, my wife. Golf a little bit. Work out, get better, get ready for next season.”
What is interesting is this will be the first complete offseason Middleton will have since after the 2018-19 season.
The 2020 offseason was shortened to 106 days due to the coronavirus pandemic, which initially paused that season and then restarted it in the “bubble.” After the 2021 championship, that offseason included a trip to Tokyo and helping Team USA (along with Lillard) win a gold medal
– which gave him all of 51 days off.
Without question, Middleton would rather be playing until June. But he turns 33 on Aug. 12, and no doubt his body could use a summer to actually train and prepare for a season as opposed to playing catchup. He will have nearly five months to do so.
“I’ve always said I feel like I have a lot left to go” he said of his career. “This series, I felt like I had a great series but at the end of the day it wasn’t good enough to advance. So, take that into the summertime, use that as motivation to figure out how to get better, stronger, conditioning-wise, everything.
“I’m a guy that feels like I can’t just be satisfied no matter how I perform, good or bad, or make any type of excuses about how I perform. So, I’m just excited. Excited about the summertime, figure out ways to get better personally and go from there.”
As for the season, it felt incomplete for Middleton.
Initially, he only missed games on back-to-backs and had his minutes restricted until early December. Once he could play essentially a full game (roughly 30 minutes per) he looked like his old self. In the 25 games he was a full-go from Dec. 7-Feb. 3, he averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 49.7%.
It was a unique period, as it was the first real stretch of games he played alongside Antetokounmpo and Lillard. It was an adjustment for all involved and one everyone admitted needs more attention and time in the coming training camp under head coach Doc Rivers.
“Just about how much attention he draws from as soon as he touches the ball from full court all the way up to the scoring areas,” Middleton said of how Lillard changed the geometry of the court. “I’ve seen a lot of attention towards myself. That starts at halfcourt or two, three feet behind the (three-point) line. I’ve seen Giannis has to be guarded by five people in the paint. But to see somebody attract full-court pressure or trapping from full court is something that we definitely can take advantage of throughout all of the seasons, or all of next season at least. I’ve never seen that before. So I’m excited to play with him, continue to grow and build a relationship with him.”
But then on Feb. 6, he came down on Durant’s foot in Phoenix. Though Middleton finished out that possession, he went right to the locker room and left the Footprint Center in a walking boot.
He later called it the worst in-season ankle sprain of his career and did not return until March 17.
The final 12 games of the season offered a preview of what was to come in the playoffs, as Middleton shot 51.4% from the field and 38.9% from behind the three-point line in averaging 16 points per game. He also averaged 6.3 assists.
“I think the medical staff did a great job taking care of me,” he said. “Coming off my surgery from the summer time, I was frustrated with the minute progressions and not playing back-to-backs, but they knew what was going to be best for myself and my body with the end-all, beall in mind. I’m extremely happy with the way they managed my body, just to get me to this point to where I can play 40 minutes and feel great next the day, or good enough to keep going. So, major shoutout and thanks to them for that.”
Then came the playoffs. Middleton has been a clutch performer in the postseason his entire career in Milwaukee, highlighted by his play during the championship run in 2021. But he’s also dealt with injury and illness. He played through severe strep throat in the 2017 playoffs vs. Toronto, which meant he couldn’t eat solid foods and had to have a needle drain abscesses in his throat. He averaged 23-6-6 on an injured right knee that required surgery right after the series against Miami last year. He did miss the end of the 2022 playoffs with a Grade 2 sprain of his left knee.
He’s also come up big when Antetokounmpo has missed playoff games in 2020, 2021, 2023 and this season.
Because of this, his teammates insisted they didn’t learn much about Middleton they didn’t already know – which is perhaps the greatest compliment.
“I think it just shows who he is,” Lillard said. “I already had a lot of respect for him but I gained even more respect for him because I like to look at players and I wonder, who is going to think how I think? Who is going to be willing to go out how I would go out? And I think when you see that as a man you just respect it a little bit more and I saw that from him in this series.”