The Milwaukee Bucks got here into the season with sky-high expectations after buying and selling for Damian Lillard over the summer season.
But tensions are rising in Milwaukee with the Bucks shedding 4 of their previous 5 video games.
Their newest loss got here towards the Utah Jazz on Monday in a sport they trailed by as a lot as 33 factors and finally misplaced 132-116, albeit with out Lillard in uniform.
And within the aftermath of Milwaukee’s earlier sport, a 112-108 loss to the Houston Rockets, Giannis Antetokounmpo questioned his group’s effort throughout an prolonged rant.
“We have to be better,” he mentioned. “We have to play better. We have to defend better. We have to trust one another better. We have to be coached better. Every single thing, everybody has to be better. Everybody. It starts from the equipment manager. He has to wash our clothes better.”
Antetokounmpo additionally referred to as out his teammates for giving up on defensive performs.
“We cannot die on screens. We die on screens, including myself. I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus. That’s why I keep saying including myself. Always. It starts from me. I’m the leader of the team. It always starts with me. I have to be better, but we cannot die on screens.”
In gentle of Giannis’ monologue and clear frustration, The Athletic’s Zach Harper provided fairly the prediction on The Athletic NBA Show this week, saying Damian Lillard won’t be with the Bucks subsequent season, partly as a result of Giannis is clearly fed up along with his lack of defensive effort.
Here’s what Harper needed to say:
“My hot take, safe zone submission: Dame’s gone this summer. You know what I read? You know what I read? When he said, “We got to stop dying on screens”. Oh, myself included. You assume that was a direct shot at Dame? Who might or not it’s at? I don’t assume he’s taking photographs at Cam Payne.”
“I think Eric Nehm wrote that Giannis talked for seven and a half minutes on all this, right? Just going off on all this stuff, right? He’s real pissed. And I think that when I saw that “we got to stop dying, we can’t die on screens,” oh, myself included, I used to be like, ‘Oh, damn’. You noticed subtext at Dame.”
There’s no denying that Lillard has had loads of obvious defensive lapses this season, and there’s little doubt they’ve irked Giannis.
Whether or not all it will culminate in Milwaukee shifting on from Lillard subsequent season stays to be seen, however something is feasible.
The Bucks will face their subsequent check after they play the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics on Thursday.
READ MORE: Damian Lillard Roasted For Embarrassing Defense in Bucks vs Pacers
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