The Miami Heat absolutely shocked the basketball world on Wednesday night after mounting a sensational comeback in Game 5 of their NBA Playoff first-round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks. Jimmy Butler led the way yet again for the Heat as they escaped with a stunning 128-126 overtime victory to close out the series and eliminate Giannis Antetokounmpo and the No. 1 seed Bucks from the playoffs.
At this point, it comes as no surprise that the pitchforks have come out for Milwaukee. Giannis himself has taken a lot of stick, especially after coming out in his post-game presser to argue that the Bucks' season is not a failure. There's going to be a lot more finger-pointing from here on out, and unfortunately for him, Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer is also going to be taking a lot of blame for his team's meltdown against the Heat.
As a matter of fact, there are a few folks from within and around the league who believe that Budenholzer's tenure as the Bucks' head coach is all but over:
“There's some losses for which there's just no going back. You cannot come back to the same team, and the Bucks cannot come back the same team from this,” NBA guru Zach Lowe said on the most recent episode of his podcast.
“League insiders — you don't really have to be an insider — but league insiders are extremely skeptical that Mike Budenholzer can return as head coach of the Bucks after this. He has, according to [Adrian Wojnarowski], his last extension, which happened after they won the title, runs through the '24 – '25 season, so he has two years left. I just don't see anyone coming back from it. It's just logic. … I think the league insiders are going to be right. I just don't see any other way.”
NBA guru Shams Charania also chimed in with his own report echoing Lowe's sentiments on Budenholzer's future:
“Mike Budenholzer’s status as Bucks head coach is very much shaky, there are questions across the organization,” Shams said. “… I’m told Budenholzer has two years and $16 million left on his contract.”
That's tough. Then again, for coach Bud, this definitely comes with the territory. You have to give credit to this man for coaching his team to the No. 1 seed in the entire NBA this season, but perhaps this is also the very reason why his job is in danger right now. After all, you can't lose to the No. 8 seed in the first round 4-1 and not expect any consequences.