One of the strongest components of the Milwaukee Bucks' season thus far has been their unselfishness and team effort. The Bucks lead the NBA in defensive rating (104.4) and have six players averaging double figures.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has certainly been the catalyst in the midst of his MVP-caliber season, but Khris Middleton made his first All-Star team and Eric Bledsoe's tenacious all-around play helped earn him a four-year, $70 million extension.
Middleton spoke to Sam Amick of The Athletic about the team's makeup of character guys and the selfless nature of the roster:
“We’ve been lucky,” said Middleton, the fellow All-Star who is in his sixth season alongside Giannis. “I think Jon Horst and Bud, they’ve done a great job of just having high character guys in here. They speak about it all the time, like we don’t really have assholes on this team. If we have an asshole, (then) me, Giannis, Bled, Malcolm, whoever, we’re able to kind of get him under control, let him know how we do things here.
“That’s just our leadership. We know what this team, what this organization, is about. So all the BS, if we have a problem with somebody we go up to them and say it. We don’t like to air out our business to the media, or what-not. We like to handle it within our locker room and figure it out ourselves. If you’re in this locker room with us, you’ll see guys enjoying each other’s company. A lot of guys on the road, teams don’t go out together, eat together, that type of thing. We always do that before every night. A couple guys will all go out to eat and just have a good time enjoying each other’s company, and having fun with it. We’re the type of team that likes to relax and have fun out there. And you play better when (that’s the vibe).”
Middleton is averaging career highs in rebounds (6.0) and assists (4.3) to go along with 17.4 points per game.
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