After an incredibly eventful six years covering the Milwaukee Bucks for Behind the Buck Pass, Adam McGee’s time as a site expert has come to an end.
The saying goes that a change is as good as a rest. For me, the time has come to remember what both of those things feel like.
After six memorable seasons of writing about the Milwaukee Bucks here at Behind the Buck Pass, this is my final post at the site. Considering it’s also my 3,187th article for BTBP, I won’t pretend that I’ve wrapped my head around what it will be like not to be doing this any more.
I’ve spent a major chunk of my life sharing Bucks thoughts here close to every single day. BTBP will always mean so much to me, not least because of the opportunities it has provided me, the incredible people I’ve gotten to know as a result, and the countless memories I’ve made living through all things Bucks over the years.
When I joined the site, it was a blank canvas. BTBP had been without an editor for a period of time, and had an incredibly modest following in terms of readers and followers on social media. With the help of an incredible cast of collaborators, I couldn’t be happier to see just how much the picture has changed in the years since.
My first post on the site was essentially the inverse of this one, as I outlined what I hoped BTBP could become:
"“My goal as the man in charge at Behind The Buck Pass is to see this site become the one stop shop for all of you Milwaukee Bucks fans, as the team continues to improve and develop.How will we do that?By offering the best analysis and most comprehensive coverage of the Bucks on a daily basis.By looking to the future, without forgetting the franchise’s storied history. By writing posts that’ll contain a mixture of statistics, humor and straight talking common-sense. By offering something different, and trying to give you your Bucks news by utilizing various different media platforms. And last, but definitely not least, by creating a community environment where Bucks fans can come together to discuss, celebrate and, I’m sure, dispute opinions on their favorite team.”"
Until it came to this exact point where I was forced to reflect on my time at the site, that mission statement wasn’t something I’d spent much, if any, time thinking about in the years since. And yet, I’d like to think that hope is reflective of what Behind the Buck Pass has actually become.
I’m incredibly proud of all of the work we’ve done, and what we’ve achieved over the past six years.
To get to where the site is today, it took so much hard work and dedication from so many people. We’ve had countless incredible contributors over the years who’ve worked so hard to help the site grow and improve their craft along the way. Many of them have gone on to great things, both inside and outside of the world of writing, and being of any assistance in that journey is without doubt the thing that fills me with greatest pride. I’m eternally grateful for all of their contributions and support.
That brings me to my two great friends and colleagues throughout this journey. Within one week of me starting at BTBP, Ti Windisch joined the site as a contributor. No more than two months on from that, Jordan Treske then joined the team too. Not only did both Ti and Jordan go on to become exceptional writers and core parts of the online Bucks community, but they became site co-experts alongside me at BTBP, and defined the direction the site would take from there.
It’s hard to put into words just how much of a grind the relentless, day-to-day demands of covering an NBA team in this capacity can be over such a long period of time. It takes patience, perseverance, a real work ethic and, most importantly, consistency. Ti and Jordan possess all of that and so much more. They were consistently excellent and diligent teammates, and beyond that they are simply two of the kindest people you could hope to know. Running a blog like this requires constant communication, and not one second of that was even close to feeling like work with Jordan or Ti. As much as I know many people treasure them for their Bucks work, I’m most pleased with being able to consider them both as friends for the rest of my life.
I also owe quick thanks to a handful of key people in the extended FanSided family.
Michael Dunlap gave me my start as a writer at HoopsHabit way back in 2013, taught me the essentials of how to navigate the NBA blogging world, and then trusted me to take on this opportunity at Behind the Buck Pass. I owe him so much.
Phil Watson was also an incredible mentor at HoopsHabit and as NBA director at FanSided, and made me infinitely better by being a meticulous and straight talking editor. Phil gave up so much of his time to help me out over the years, and that always meant a lot to me.
Ian Levy was someone whose work I had admired from a distance for a long time, and between eventually collaborating on NBA division projects at BTBP and getting to write for him at FanSided’s The Step Back and ever so briefly at Hardwood Paroxysm, I came away from every interaction with Ian as a better writer. Ian is immensely generous and it was always an honor to work with him.
Josh Wilson was a colleague for a long time when he was a site expert at The Sixer Sense, but since taking on the position of NBA director, he’s been a great support to Jordan and I in a variety of ways. My sincere thanks go to Josh.
On the subject of thank yous, I now arrive at the most important one of all. My most heartfelt thanks go to the incredible readers who’ve engaged with my writing, and that of the site, for many years, and been the fuel for great conversation on Twitter during that time too. I’ve always found it a little surreal that people actually read my thoughts about the Bucks and the NBA. The fact that even more than that, so many of you have voiced your appreciation of my work is deeply, deeply touching.
So, what’s next for me? I don’t have a big announcement to make, and that’s honestly what excites me most of all.
I already have a job in sports media completely separate to the Bucks and the NBA, but entirely attributable to the experience I picked up at Behind the Buck Pass. My true passion is film, and having recently completed a master’s degree on that subject, that is where I hope my attention will now go in the longer-term. To put it simply, bringing an end to my time as an NBA writer will gift me so much valuable time (and sleep).
Living in Ireland, the NBA has always been at a distance for me in some respects. My friends and family know next to nothing about it, and frankly probably thought I’d lost my mind on many occasions as I worked through the night or scrambled for a computer out of the blue to cover breaking news. In other words, for as much time as it’s taken up for me, it was always something I realistically viewed as a hobby rather than a career. I honestly owe my friends, family, and myself more free time than the last few years have afforded me.
I’ll still be watching everything the Bucks do, and I’ll be rooting for them harder than ever before. I’m not sure I remember what it’s like to just be an NBA fan, but I’m excited to get back to that. I’ll be sharing plenty of opinions on Twitter (FOLLOW!), and I’ll also be continuing with the Win in 6 Podcast (SUBSCRIBE!) alongside Jordan. Maybe other Bucks projects will be in my future too. I’ve got some ideas, so we’ll see what happens.
Behind the Buck Pass remains in phenomenal hands. Jordan is still very much at the helm, and I’m ecstatic that Dalton Sell is making the jump from contributor to site expert to join him. As many of you will know, Dalton is a fantastic writer, and I have no doubt he will do great things in his new role.
To finish, let’s talk about the Bucks. I selfishly hoped that I’d get to bow out after a long-awaited championship this season. That wasn’t to be. The opportunity to win a title soon is very much still within the Bucks’ grasp, but they face a crucial and precarious few months if it’s ever to become a reality.
I’d be lying if I said that six years of living and breathing every moment of this team provided me with great cause for optimism. Bucks fans have been dealt more than their share of disappointment over the years, and the scar tissue is understandably significant.
But the journey to this point, for this specific iteration of the Bucks, has been so incredible that it’s hard to view anything as impossible. The journeys of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, and their transformations in my time doing this, have exceeded the wildest dreams of even the greatest of optimists. They are the embodiment of the NBA underdog. They are the reason why the Bucks, and Milwaukee, can reach the summit again.
If that happens, I won’t be here to write about it, but rest assured I’ll be basking in the glory alongside the rest of you. Thank you for a great run, Bucks fans. Milwaukee has a place in my heart forever.