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Milwaukee Bucks: LeBron James is the barometer in the Eastern Conference

By Ti Windisch

Dec 21, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the first half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Competing with the Toronto Raptors is great, but for the Milwaukee Bucks to be true contenders they’ll have to handle LeBron  James.

Remember, right when the Milwaukee Bucks went up 2-1 over the Toronto Raptors, how incredibly optimistic Bucks fans were about their team’s chances? Toronto is a good team after all–maybe the Bucks could compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers if they could take down Toronto!

First off, it’s never a good idea to put the cart before the horse. The Raptors won that series and demonstrated having a deep team and playoff experience can overrule a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s presence, if only barely.

Any talk about Milwaukee keeping up with Cleveland feels insane right about now. The Bucks, although injured, got handled by Toronto. Now the Raptors are powerless to do much of anything against Cleveland, thanks to LeBron James reminding everybody who cares to watch that he’s the best basketball player in the world.

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That’s just how far ahead of anybody else in the East LeBron and the Cavaliers are. Forget holding up against Toronto, the Washington Wizards or the Boston Celtics. LeBron is the barometer of success in the Eastern Conference.

If you can’t beat the King, you can’t go to the NBA Finals. It’s been that way since 2011, and LeBron’s streak of going to the Finals doesn’t seem very likely to end this season.

LeBron will get old someday and have to relinquish the crown, but there’s no telling when that actually happens. While some teams in the East may be biding their time until Cleveland returns to be among mere mortal teams once again, the Bucks have no choice but to push forward at this point.

Even if Milwaukee can’t overcome LeBron until he ages for a while longer, it’s time to start seeing him as the competition. What’s the point of measuring up against teams that LeBron can destroy while actively clowning them?

He actually pretended to drink a beer during a playoff game against the Raptors.

In case you thought that was some sort of isolated incident, he practiced his free throw routine before nailing a three in Serge Ibaka‘s face in the very next game.

Raptors/Cavaliers isn’t a competitive series so much as it’s an inevitability, some paperwork that LeBron and company need to fill out before they can advance to the Finals and take on the Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics are led by the truly incredible Isaiah Thomas, and the Wizards by the remarkable John Wall. Neither team will stand a chance against LeBron unless the Cavaliers suffer some sort of key injury.

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The Bucks might be the team in the best shape to actually challenge LeBron going forward, given that Milwaukee makes smart moves in free agency and the draft. It will take a singular talent surrounded by the right pieces to give a team a real chance against LeBron.

Giannis, with another summer and full season of work and development, surrounded by Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker and other quality players, might be able to make LeBron work for his Finals appearance.

The King in Cleveland needs to be what the Bucks measure themselves up against going forward. Toronto, Boston and Washington are good teams, but they’re clearly a rung below the promised land in the Eastern Conference.

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Maybe for the next year or two, the Milwaukee Bucks fall short against LeBron James and the Cavaliers. That’s fine, as long as the Bucks realize who they have to compete with to actually become contenders.

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