9 People who turned their backs on the Milwaukee Bucks

8. OJ Mayo

OJ Mayo was a bucket-getter from the time he arrived in the NBA. He averaged 18.5 points, 43.8 percent from the field, and 38.4 percent from three as a rookie, leaving zero doubt about his ability to perform at a high level in the big leagues. 

He was also a good perimeter defender, due in large part, to his athleticism. However, he bounced around from team to team, before landing a $24 million deal with the Bucks.

Mayo's tenure in Milwaukee was far from perfect, much like his basketball life. Work ethic and poor conditioning played a large part in some of the challenges, although he did still average double-figures in the first two years.

Mayo racked up DNPs and backed up less experienced players. 

Which led to him airing out his frustrations.

"It's hard to get a rhythm when you don't know what's going to happen for you night in and night out. You may get 6 minutes, 30 minutes. There's no staple to what we're doing."

Mayo suffered a devastating injury falling down the stairs in his second season with the Bucks. He later spent more time “showing love to friends, hanging out, and finding girls” than in the gym and struggled mightily after returning from injury in2015-16.

Then came the dagger: an indefinite ban from the league due to a violation of the league's substance abuse policy. Which is not the way to reward a franchise that stood by his side through thick and thin, in light of his issues.