On Wednesday evening, the Washington Wizards will kick off their 2025-26 NBA season with a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The game will mark the return of Khris Middleton to Milwaukee after the team traded him to Washington last year in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, who hasn't exactly earned glowing reviews during his time with the Bucks so far.
As part of the festivities, the Bucks plan to honor Middleton with a tribute video, and ahead of that, Middleton got 100% real on his state of mind prior to the game.
“I'm hoping I don't tear up. You never know. I know Giannis and a couple of the guys over there would love to see that,” said Middleton, per Lily Zhao of FOX6 News on X, formerly Twitter.
Middleton played a huge role in the Bucks' 2021 NBA championship win, knocking down several clutch shots and arguably coming through as the team's most valuable player in their Eastern Conference Finals win over the Atlanta Hawks after Giannis Antetokounmpo went down with an injury.
Of course, Antetokounmpo would return and win NBA Finals MVP, but the Bucks most certainly would not have won that championship had it not been for Middleton's contributions.
An interesting Wizards team
The Washington Wizards are hoping to take a step forward this year after spending the last several years as one of the NBA's cellar dwellers. The team has brought in an intriguing collection of veteran talent to supplement the youth, including both Middleton and CJ McCollum, whom the team got back after sending Jordan Poole to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Meanwhile, the Wizards have some interesting young pieces on their roster as well, including Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, and Cam Whitmore, among others. If some of those players can take another leap in 2025-26, the Wizards could start to be taken seriously as a legitimate NBA team by competition this year.
In any case, the Wizards and Bucks are set to tip off at 8:00 PM ET from Milwaukee on Wednesday evening.
