Milwaukee Bucks: 3 myths that were busted when they won NBA Finals
By Dalton Sell
After enduring heartbreak after heartbreak over the past few years, the Milwaukee Bucks finally overcame their postseason woes and broke through the wall in 2021.
Having won their first championship in 50 years, the Bucks battled past adversity and defied the odds and did what so many believed they could never do as currently constructed. When they held that Larry O’Brien Trophy in the air following a six games series with the Phoenix Suns, a moment that remains surreal over two months later, a handful of myths that previously plagued the Bucks were busted. With that being said, let us take a look at three of them.
Myths that were busted as Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA Finals: No.1 – Mike Budenholzer was just a regular season coach
Prior to this season, Milwaukee head coach Mike Budenholzer was viewed as nothing more than a regular season coach.
This began when he was coaching the Atlanta Hawks and led them to the best record in the Eastern Conference at 60-22, which helped Budenholzer win his first of two Coach of the Year awards. Despite their regular season dominance, the Hawks proceeded to get walloped by the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in the Conference Finals. During his first season with Milwaukee in the 2018-19 season, the Bucks finished with a league-best 62-20 record, which won Budenholzer his second COTY, but they ultimately collapsed in the postseason. The following year, they once again boasted the best regular season record at 56-17 but got embarrassed in the playoffs.
With all of these ugly playoff losses on his record, everyone grew to know Budenholzer as a coach that was not capable of leading a team to a title. This was largely due to his unwillingness to adapt on the fly in the big moments, which hindered any success for his teams. Following the Bucks’ loss to the Heat in the 2020 playoffs, fans were calling for Budenholzer to lose his job, but the team decided to give him one more shot to prove himself during the 2020-21 season, which proved to be the smartest decision possible.
Understanding that his job was likely in the balance, Budenholzer made the proper adjustments all throughout the playoffs. When things looked gloomy for the Bucks, such as finding themselves down 0-2 against both the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, Budenholzer remained calm, and rather than sticking to his established principles, he switched things up to help his team climb right back into each series. After coaching his team to a title, Budenholzer shattered any idea that he could not see success in the playoffs, and the Bucks rewarded him handsomely for it.