Jrue Holiday has always been known to be one of the best veteran guards in the league. Aside from his contributions as a primary defender and being arguably the best defensive guard in the NBA, Holiday has been a leader everywhere he has been in his career. Between his contributions on and off the court for the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2020-21 season, it was no surprise to see him as the Bucks' missing link in their championship pursuit.
With Holiday leading their backcourt, the Bucks went on to win their first championship since 1971, setting up what looked to be the start of a new dynasty alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Ultimately, the Bucks' inability to advance deep into the postseason over the next two seasons resulted in Milwaukee taking things in a different direction. This past offseason, major changes were made to the Bucks' roster, one of which involved them giving up Holiday in a package for superstar point guard Damian Lillard.
After giving it his all for three seasons with the Bucks, Holiday found himself on the move yet again in his career. Although he recognizes that this is a business, the 33-year-old guard was not too pleased with the way things were handled by the Bucks.
Jrue Holiday's feelings on Bucks, Damian Lillard trade
In an age where social media dominates our daily news cycle, athletes find themselves near the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to respect. Regarding the NBA, teams are so quick to give information to members of the media that they oftentimes forget to inform their own players what is happening. When trades are made, some players wind up finding out about their team giving up on them in a simple post on Twitter by national reporters and journalists, while others simply receive a phone call from their team's general manager out of the blue.
For a player like Holiday, one would think that the Bucks would've let their All-Star know that he was involved in trade talks. Instead, as Holiday put it, the team traded him for Lillard out of the blue with no prior conversations.
"I had no clue… It was just a shock because at least let me know 24 hours in advance, not 5 minutes in advance… I won [a championship] there."
Jrue Holiday sounded OFF on the Bucks for how the Damian Lillard trade went down.
(via @TheVolumeSports)pic.twitter.com/JwPZX3cFa1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 26, 2024
“I'm taking a nap, and I see a call from the GM [general manager], and I'm like, ‘I'll call him back.' Like, I'm deep in this nap too,” Holiday jokingly told Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green on The Draymond Green Show. “And then two seconds later, my agent called me. So I pick up his call and he's like, ‘You talk to him?' I'm like, ‘Nah bro, I'm sleeping.' He's like, ‘Well, you just got traded, so you should probably call him back.' And then, I end up looking at my phone and he ended up texting me everything that was happening, like, ‘Yeah, we traded you here.' He ended up saying that they traded me for Damian Lillard.
“So I also had no clue. I think for me, it was just a shock because at least let me know 24 hours in advance, not five minutes in advance. And maybe I am asking for too much.”
Holiday, who won a championship with the Bucks and was a major part of their core group alongside Antetokounmpo and Middleton, was traded for Lillard without any prior notice from the team. Obviously, teams do not have to seek permission from players to clear things with them for transactions like this, but Holiday is a veteran player that everyone within the organization had respected.
Everything always tends to work its way out in the NBA, as Holiday could get his revenge on the Bucks come time for the playoffs. The Celtics own the best record in the league, and the Bucks find themselves as the 2-seed in the Eastern Conference. These two organizations seemed destined to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, which is when Holiday will undoubtedly be tasked with guarding Lillard with the way the NBA playoff picture is shaping up.
In a classic battle of offense versus defense, Holiday will look to get the final laugh against his team, possibly en route to winning the second championship of his career.
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