Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things they will miss most from P.J. Tucker

The Milwaukee Bucks will miss P.J. Tucker’s “dog” mindset

The Bucks needed someone to be a vocal presence in their locker room, and Tucker adopted that role fairly quickly after coming over.

Of course, the entire “we dogs” mantra that followed the Bucks throughout the postseason was initially coined by Tucker. The team needed something to rally behind, and Tucker’s mentality seemingly grew rooted within the roster. These dogs never gave in, not after falling into an 0-2 hole versus the Brooklyn Nets, not after dropping the first game against the Atlanta Hawks in Milwaukee, and certainly not after losing the first two games of the NBA Finals. They always found a way to fight back and that is because they were dogs.

At the team’s celebration following the title run, a very well-celebrated Tucker took the stage and explained the mindset and how he helped the team embrace such a mentality. It was undeniably riveting and got the crowd fired up as the lead hound delivered an all-time speech that will go down in the team’s history among the most iconic moments to date.

The Bucks will miss that determined voice in their locker room to rally the troops when things get difficult. That is not to say that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton cannot be those guiding voices, because they can. Yet, it was just a role that Tucker was born to play. He had been playing this role on contending teams all throughout his playing career in pursuit of a title, which finally came to fruition on a team he seemed destined to stay on.

This franchise will miss his vibrant presence and commanding voice that truly showed this team “how to be dogs” upon his arrival.