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The Milwaukee Bucks may have gotten off to a poor start to the 2024-25 regular season, but they’ve since turned things around. They’ve gotten Kris Middleton back in the lineup from injury, and they’ve advanced to the NBA Cup Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks. Amid the team’s uneven play, a lot of media narratives have been thrown the Bucks’ way, and Giannis Antetokounmpo spoke out about it during a recent episode of his brother Thanasis’ podcast, ‘Thanalysis.’
“The Bucks are going to Vegas, blackjack wow! And the day you lose? They suck, get him out of here. Trade Giannis!” Antetokounmpo said. “He has blood on his hands, nobody wants him, he can’t shoot. . .yesterday I was the best player in the world.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo seems to have a point regarding media narratives surrounding not just the Bucks, but within the NBA overall. It’s like an instant gratification culture and you’re only as good as your last game.
For the Bucks though, some early criticism may have been warranted. After all, even though they were missing Middleton, they still had enough on the roster to be better than their early season record indicated.
Bucks have turned season around
Coming into the regular season, the Bucks were hoping to be mentioned as a championship contender. When they traded for Damian Lillard ahead of last season, that was the plan. But since the Bucks fired Adrian Griffin last year, they haven’t exactly played consistent basketball.
They didn’t finish the 2023-24 season that strong and they were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs, albeit an Antetokounmpo being sidelined due to injury.
This season, the Bucks started out 4-9 before going 9-2 in their last 11 games that also included winning seven consecutive games. The Bucks are currently 13-11 and have moved up into sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings. That would also be good enough to make the playoffs outright and not have to go through the play-in.
During this recent stretch, Antetokounmpo has averaged 33.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 blocked shots while shooting 62 percent from the field, as per StatMuse.
During that same period, Lillard has been averaging 26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists with splits of 47.6 percent shooting from the field, 41.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 93.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Middleton has played in only three games since he’s been back, and has been struggling with his shot, but his mere presence on the court opens things up for the Bucks.
