22 hours Ago By Andrei De Guzman, NBA Analysis Network
The Milwaukee Bucks saw the return of a familiar face within their home turf. On April 1, the Milwaukee Bucks encountered its former mentor in Mike Budenholzer , now wearing a different uniform and colors leading the Phoenix Suns. This marks the second time that both the Milwaukee Bucks and Budenholzer met this season, with the first one took place last week in Phoenix.
Leading into the game, Giannis Antetokounmpo expected something special coming from the Bucks to honor Budenholzer. However, this wish of him didn’t come to fruition. Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts on Bucks not playing video tribute for Mike Budenholzer With a 391-271 all-time regular season head coaching record for them, Budenholzer hammered his case as the greatest and winningest coach in the Bucks history.
Arriving in Milwaukee in 2018, Budenholzer instantly molded Milwaukee into a legitimate title contender. He was also the one responsible for unlocking Giannis Antetokounmpo , helping the Greek sensation in becoming a two-time league MVP in back-to-back seasons of 2019 and 2020. In 2021, both Budenholzer and the Bucks finally attained their dream, winning it all by clinching the NBA title and ending the franchise’s 50-year wait for a championship.
Both sides saw an unfortunate break-up when the Bucks collapsed from a remarkable five-game, first-round battle in the 2023 Playoffs against the Jimmy Butler and his eighth-seed Miami Heat team. Days after the series, the Bucks brass immediately terminated Budenholzer from his head coaching duties. Despite the messy ending between their partnership, the Bucks and its fanbase still has nothing but love towards Budenholzer and the special contributions he brought to Milwaukee.
For that, Antetokounmpo was simply perplexed on why the organization didn’t even play a video tribute to celebrate Budenholzer’s comeback to the Fiserv Forum and his coaching legacy as a Buck. “I thought they were going to play a video for him and they didn’t, which was surprising to me,” Antetokounmpo said after a 37-point performance in the Bucks’ 133-123 win over the Suns. “I felt like they should.
“We were three times No. 1 team in the NBA, two times No. 4 team in the NBA, won a championship, five times in the playoffs, two times in the Eastern Conference Finals, one time in the Finals, so a lot of winning games.
” Smiling, the Bucks star went on to play around about what should’ve been the length of Budenholzer’s video tribute. “So I felt like it would be a two-minute, three-minute, okay maybe not two minutes? I’m exaggerating. Maybe 45 seconds? I don’t like him that much.
Maybe like a 30-second video of him being the coach.” Antetokounmpo finds it weird to play against Budenholzer The Bucks at least prepared something as a welcome for Budenholzer going back to Milwaukee, a visual graphic which was posted across the team’s social media pages ahead of the matchup. Welcome back, Coach Bud.
pic.twitter.com/NTPfaHKzVO Regardless, Antetokounmpo felt weird about facing Budenholzer at the other side of the court considering that they were strong and close allies in Milwaukee for five seasons.
“It’s definitely weird,” Giannis said. “Seeing him complain about plays that I do, charges, push-offs, and all that, and it’s the stuff that he loved when I did it when we were on the same team, winning a championship together. “He loved when I did that, but now I’m playing against him.
It’s definitely weird, but I’ve played against Coach Bud probably like 10, 15 times before he became our coach, so it’s not something different. “I thought he was going to have a tribute video.” As they move forward separately, Antetokounmpo and Budenholzer are set for daunting challenges ahead.
The improbable work continues for the NBA superstar in leading the Bucks to this year’s title in the wake of Damian Lillard’s indefinite absence from blood clot diagnosis. As for Budenholzer, he continues to navigate a Suns team that has been reeling all season long and are now on the brink of missing the Play-in Tournament, which may ultimately cost his coaching job from the franchise. This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.
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