Last season the Milwaukee Bucks had championship aspirations. Here’s what they must do to reach the NBA Finals next year.
Entering the postseason, Milwaukee Bucks fans were optimistic that the franchise would bring home their first NBA championship since 1971. Their franchise player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was considered the favorite to win both the defensive player of the year and the league MVP. Equipped with the league’s best record for the second consecutive season, many expected Milwaukee to steamroll through the Eastern Conference and be met with their greatest challenge, one of the two L.A. teams, in a hard-fought NBA Finals.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The leading MVP candidate got so frustrated over a perceived lack of calls that he headbutted a second-year journeyman on the worst team invited to the Orlando bubble. The team lost the first game of the playoffs to the eight seeded Orlando Magic, and rumors began to circulate that key players were suffering from nagging injuries.
After dropping the first three games of the second-round match-up against the Miami Heat, those rumors turned into reality when Antetokounmpo went down with a calf injury he would not return from. The team fought valiantly, winning Game 4 in overtime, but ultimately lost to Miami in five games.
The Milwaukee Bucks have one more season to convince their 25-year-old phenom that he should sign a long-term contract and become the permanent cornerstone of the franchise. The only way to do that is by reaching the NBA Finals, a feat the team hasn’t accomplished since 1974, long before anyone on the present-day roster was born. If the team is going to accomplish that goal and retain the biggest star they’ve had since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, these are the steps they must take to make that dream a reality.