Jrue Holiday has been nothing short of fantastic since the Milwaukee Bucks traded the farm away for him this past offseason.
On the court, Holiday has been having one of his better seasons in the NBA by currently shooting the ball with career-best efficiency and playing defense top-tier defense every night. His seamless fit has been exactly what the team envisioned in their chase for a championship.
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While Holiday’s impact on the floor is easy to notice, not much about him is known off the floor. The guard is typically one to keep himself under the radar, which made it a must-listen when he opened up on an appearance on former Milwaukee Buck JJ Redick’s ‘The Old Man & the Three’ podcast this past week.
Holiday discussed a multitude of topics, including last season’s run with the New Orleans Pelicans, his desire to give back to the community, being traded to Milwaukee, and even a brief mention of his efforts trying to recruit Redick to Milwaukee.
It was interesting to listen as Holiday opened up more, and here are three big takeaways from his appearance on the podcast.
Jrue Holiday discussed the meshing process since joining the Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks traded for Holiday this offseason with the intention of forming a star-studded trio alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. He has lived up to, if not exceeded, those expectations thus far by providing a massive boost in the backcourt that perfectly complements those two on a nightly basis.
While Holiday appeared to be a seamless fit from the start, he revealed that it was challenging at first to find a groove with his new All-Star teammates early on. However, after battling through some early growing pains, the veteran feels like playing beside Antetokounmpo and Middleton has taken his game up a notch:
"“Being able to play off them has made the game a lot easier and I’m not going to lie, more fun to play. There was a struggle there where I felt like I’m just running up and down, running to the dunker, but now we’re in this groove where I feel like they trust me, especially Giannis. Khris I think from the beginning he knew, but Giannis had to trust me and we had to feel each other out a little bit yet.”"
It was indeed a big change for everyone involved, which was undoubtedly a highlighted concern when the team traded for the guard in a condensed offseason with minimal preparation time before the season. Yet, these three pushed past that initial integration stage and have been seemingly clicking night in and night out ever since.
The chemistry between this trio is only getting better with each passing game, which is a welcoming sight with the postseason nearing.