Still sleeping on the Bucks? How the power of joy and ‘Bucks DNA’ is adding up to a championship profile

Sam Amick Mar 7, 2019  70
SACRAMENTO​ –​ Of all​ the​ players to​ try​ and double​ team,​ Giannis​ Antetokounmpo might​ be​ the toughest​​ assignment on the planet.

If it’s not the sheer length or boundless athleticism that gets the best of you, it’s those massive muscles that have the Greek Freak looking more like a Greek God these days. The Milwaukee star has been virtually impossible to contain for years now, but these past five months have been something altogether different for the MVP candidate and his best-record-in-the-league Bucks (48-16).

Yet on this rainy Tuesday afternoon in Sacramento, where the Bucks flew in from Chicago and headed straight from the runway to the Kings’ downtown practice court, yours truly and another national NBA scribe have decided to double team the game’s most irrepressible talent.

And why not? While the media masses are tracking every superstar breath and locker room tiff in places like Los Angeles, Boston, and Golden State, where the conflict has inspired so many clicks this season, we are the only two reporters here.

On-record words have yet to be spoken, and my first question has somehow been answered already: Yes, this confirms, we are still sleeping on the Bucks.

The chosen interview strategy is born out of necessity, as Giannis’ representatives from the Bucks and his agency have made it clear that he’s not granting one-on-ones these days – at least not of the sit-down, scheduled variety. His explanation is precisely what you might expect: This season is too special to lose focus, meaning he’d rather stick to the league-mandated media sessions while eschewing extra requests. Like his friend and foe Stephen Curry of the defending champion Warriors likes to tweet, #Lockin.

The dumb-luck of it all, of course, is that this ‘scrum’ session is as small as they get. As Giannis comes off the floor after practice, he takes a seat against the wall and settles in. This, like all the others, is a double-team that he can handle.

“I love it,” Giannis says with a smile. “It’s amazing that I can just work in silence. I’m a low-profile guy. I know that being good, having a great team, and winning in this league (means) that attention comes with it, but I’d rather quiet days like this.”

That’s all well and good for now, of course. But the playoffs are coming, meaning the decibel level is about to ramp up. The key question, it seems, is whether these Bucks will be the ones making the noise or succumbing to it.

PROFILE OF A CHAMPION
It has been 18 years since they won a first-round playoff series, back when George Karl and Ray Allen led the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Their lone title, during that storied Lew Alcindor era, was nearly a half century ago. But these Bucks, by every objective measure of the statistical and spiritual kind, are fully capable of making that kind of mark.

Before these last two losses – at rising Utah on Saturday and at lowly Phoenix two days later – the Bucks almost looked invincible. They’d lost just three times in 24 tries, with only one of those taking place when Giannis played (Jan. 27 against Oklahoma City). They dominated on both ends, which was nothing new.

These Bucks, mind you, are in a class all their own when it comes to that pivotal factor: Not only are they the only team to boast a top-five offensive (third) and defensive rating (first), but only Boston, Toronto and Denver are even top 10. They have the league’s best net rating (8.8), with a sizable lead on the second-place Warriors (5.6) and have beaten teams by a league-high average of 9.1 points (the Warriors are second at 5.7).


(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
First-year coach Mike Budenholzer has unlocked Giannis in the kind of way that Jason Kidd never could, as he remains on pace to join Oscar Robertson as the only players to average at least 27 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists per game. Giannis’ devastating attacking game makes it all work, but all the recent roster moves were intended to make the most of that incredible skill.

With shooters all over the floor, and second-year general manager Jon Horst adding to that bunch last month when he landed Nikola Mirotic from New Orleans before the trade deadline, the Bucks have gone from 25th in three-point attempts last season (24.7) to second (38). Two-way players abound, from Giannis to Khris Middleton, Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon and Brook Lopez. They’re second in blocks (6.1 per game), second in opponents point off turnovers (14.2), fourth in opponent’s second-chance points (11.5).

Point proven: They have the statistical profile of a would-be champion.

“This is a time for us to take a step forward and to win a playoff series,” Horst told The Athletic. “Even though people are sleeping on the Bucks, I think if we bowed out in the first round, everybody would be like, ‘What in the hell happened?’ Me included. That would be a disappointment. But it would be a significant thing for us to advance, because we haven’t done it in so long and it would be a big step for this group. But I think the metrics line up where if we can do that and stay healthy, and stay together, have some lucky breaks along the way, I think the talent and the performance thus far would show you that we should be playing into June, hopefully.”

But do they have the right kind of collective personality to persevere through the two-month marathon that is the postseason? That’s where this group might have the kind of edge that doesn’t show up in the box score.

THE POWER OF JOY
Fun is fleeting in today’s NBA, where even the once-joyful Warriors are perpetually edgy and so many of the elite teams seem to be struggling to find that Zen that Phil Jackson used to talk about so much. But the Bucks, with their coach who’s steeped in the Spurs culture and the star whose leadership style reminds him of the great Tim Duncan, have created something altogether different.

“I’ll say the same thing I always say – and people look at me crazy – is that we’re having fun,” Antetokounmpo said. “Like, we’re working, but we’re not coming in here like, ‘Ah, another day that we’ve got to practice.’ It’s almost like we’re happy that we’re here.”

Imagine that.

“We’re happy that we’re going to play together,” he continued. “This group has been amazing. The atmosphere has been amazing for us, and so that’s why we’re playing well. We’re playing together. That’s why we have one another’s back. We go to team dinners the night before the game, we go on team dinners together the night after the game. And that’s something that coach Bud (will emphasize). He’ll go to the team and talk about how to play well you’ve got to know – everybody’s got to know – that you have each other’s back. And so far, everybody knows that, and that’s why we do whatever it takes for one another.”

Part of that, as Giannis explained, is his willingness to shun some of the attention that comes his way for the interest of the greater good.

“I’m not trying to criticize nobody; everybody can do whatever they want to do. But I see a lot of young players coming out who think that by putting your name in the media you’re going to get the exposure. But at the end of the day, it’s not about the media. If you don’t get it done on the court, it’s not going to get done with media. Like, if I don’t come out tomorrow and try to kick some ass and try to get a win and help my team, media is not going to do that for me. I try to focus on my job, and to finish the season strong, and not try to do (other stuff). I don’t get young players, like why they try to allow so many distractions to get in their heads. They’re all over the place. SLAM magazine. GQ, whatever. Just stay in your lanes, get your job done, and everything else is going to come.”

In other words, as Middleton put it, don’t be an a-hole.


(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
“We’ve been lucky,” said Middleton, the fellow All-Star who is in his sixth season alongside Giannis. “I think Jon Horst and Bud, they’ve done a great job of just having high character guys in here. They speak about it all the time, like we don’t really have assholes on this team. If we have an asshole, (then) me, Giannis, Bled, Malcolm, whoever, we’re able to kind of get him under control, let him know how we do things here.

“That’s just our leadership. We know what this team, what this organization, is about. So all the BS, if we have a problem with somebody we go up to them and say it. We don’t like to air out our business to the media, or what-not. We like to handle it within our locker room and figure it out ourselves. If you’re in this locker room with us, you’ll see guys enjoying each other’s company. A lot of guys on the road, teams don’t go out together, eat together, that type of thing. We always do that before every night. A couple guys will all go out to eat and just have a good time enjoying each other’s company, and having fun with it. We’re the type of team that likes to relax and have fun out there. And you play better when (that’s the vibe).”

It’s a page right out of Gregg Popovich’s playbook, with Giannis playing the leadership part of The Big Fundamental.

“I think personality wise, and approach wise, he is (similar to Duncan),” said Budenholzer, who spent 19 seasons as a Spurs assistant before his five-year run as Atlanta’s head coach that preceded this Bucks challenge. “It’s him as a teammate. Like, he’s such a great teammate. He’s so humble, but hungry. So humble, but wants to be great and wants the team to be great. Those are all kind of the characteristics of Timmy, and it’s just amazing how his teammates loved him and it’s very similar with Giannis.”

BUCKS DNA
When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver pulled the curtain back on the players’ psyche during his Sloan Conference panel on Saturday, highlighting the many ways in which rampant cell phone use, addictive social media habits and media scrutiny have impacted player happiness, he sparked a conversation that won’t be going away anytime soon. The picture he painted was a gloomy one, with an inevitable ripple effect on many of the league’s locker rooms that has been on display all season long.

“I think we live a bit in the age of anxiety,” Silver said. “I’ve read studies on this. I think part of it is a direct product of social media. And I think those players were talking about – when I meet with them, what strikes me is that they are truly unhappy. This is not some show they’re putting on for the media.”

He cited Michael Jordan’s Bulls as a prime example of the good, old days, referring to the forthcoming ESPN documentary that will highlight what was a simpler, healthier time.

“Michael, what people didn’t see was (that)…there was classic team building going on all the time,” Silver continued. “These guys were a band of brothers – on the buses, on the planes – and all the attention only brought them closer. If you’re around a team in this day and age, there are headphones on, they’re isolated and they’re head down. I remember years ago, Isaiah Thomas said to me, ‘Championships are won on the bus.’”

Truth be told, the fact that the Bucks enjoying each other is a story – They go to dinner together?! – says even more about some of their rivals than it does about them. But by all accounts, it’s the kind of substantive truth that they’re convinced will serve them well in the months ahead.

“All of it is voluntary, but the participation (on team dinners) has got to be above 90 percent,” Horst said. “It is the character of the guys. It is the group that matters. But we’ve definitely put things in place that I think have developed that interaction and camaraderie. To talk about it the way Commissioner Silver did, I do think that we have a camaraderie that exists, and a chemistry that exists, that 100 percent is an advantage for us. I agree with that.”

Luck will always play a part in team building, but much of this – as one might imagine – is by design. Horst, the 35-year-old who beat out five other candidates for the GM job in the summer of 2017 after spending the previous nine years as the Bucks director of basketball operations, has a checklist of player qualities that filters each and every one of his decisions.

“Bucks DNA,” they call it. And enthusiasm for their shared mission, Horst made clear, is absolutely a job requirement.


Eric Bledsoe dives for a loose ball in Sacramento. (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
“High character, willing to sacrifice, intense, play hard, passion for the game, high IQ,” Horst said. “(But) the really special piece of that comes when you hire a coach (like Budenholzer), and going through a process and talking to him about those things and sitting through interviews, and spending time with him, and realizing that it’s 100 percent in his fabric. It’s what he grew up with in San Antonio, it’s what he believes in and cares about.

“Quite honestly, I’ve fired people in our organization because they can’t get excited about working for a franchise that has a brand new arena (the Fiserv Forum opened in downtown Milwaukee this season), a brand new practice facility, Giannis Antetokounmpo as a superstar, Mike Budenholzer as a head coach and the ownership that we have (Marc Lasry and Wes Edens led the group that bought the Bucks for $550 million in April 2014). And I say, ‘If you can’t get excited, and wake up in the morning to be part of that, then you don’t belong.’ That’s from a staffing perspective, and a player perspective, on down. That’s the culture. That’s the filter that we’ve tried to establish.”

So can they win the whole damn thing? In a word, yes.

That part is impossible to dispute. But good luck getting any of them to look too far ahead. The double-teams are just beginning.

“We’ve just got to take it day by day,” Giannis said. “I know we have the best record in the NBA, (but you’ve) never heard me say, ‘Oh, we might beat the champs,’ or ‘We might be the best team in the East,’ or whatever. But at the end of the day, we haven’t won a playoff series yet. So when we get that done, then you start believing, believing it even more. …It’s a process, and I’m learning. I’ve never been there before.”