The NBA Playoffs roll on. As of this posting date, the second round of playoff action is underway. One of the surprises of the first round was the early exit of the Milwaukee Bucks, who were sent packing for the summer by the Miami Heat.
The Bucks didn’t just lose their first-round series. They lost to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in five games. With the loss, the Bucks became just the sixth top seed to lose in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Some of that early exit could certainly be blamed on the loss of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who suffered a back injury early in the series, and was on the bench for most of the rest of it. He did play in Game Five, but was not at his best. Still, the man they call the Greek Freak is probably the main face of the franchise, so it fell on him to speak to the press about the series loss.
In a press conference after Game Five, the two-time MVP said, “There’s no failure in sports.” Good words of inspiration… Words that got praise and applause on social media. Still, not everyone was buying it.
One of those not so happy with the first-round exit was our own Shaquille O’Neal, who shot back that he felt like every year he and his team did not win a championship, he considered that a failure.
Shaq: “When you’re a great player, and they expect you to win, and you don’t win, in my mind it is a failure. I played 19 seasons, and I failed 15 seasons. When I didn’t win, it was a failure.”
O’Neal said that was especially true for him when he got to the Finals, but didn’t claim the Championship trophy: “Especially when I made it to the finals versus the [Houston] Rockets and lost, made it to the finals for the fourth time with the [Los Angeles] Lakers and lost, it was definitely a failure.”
O’Neal definitely had his share of non-failure seasons. The big man won four NBA championships. He also lost two – once early on in his career with the Orlando Magic, and then later with the Lakers in that series against the Rockets.
As for Antetokounmpo himself, Shaq said, “He’s not a failure as a player, but is it a failure of a season? I would say yes.” In Game Five, Antetokounmpo struggled from the free throw line in Game 5, going 10-for-23. He completely missed games 2 and 3 with the back injury and had played only 11 minutes in Game 1.
Giannis tried to put a good spin on the disappointing season: “You asked me the same question last year, I think. Do you get a promotion every year? No, right? So, every year you work is a failure? Yes or no? No,” he said.
Antetokounmpo brought up the name of one of the games all-time greats in his comments: “Michael Jordan played 15 years. Won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? … Exactly, so why you ask me that question. It’s the wrong question.”
Failure or not, the Milwaukee Bucks are no doubt going through the disappointment of the early exit from the playoff tournament. The Bucks did win it all back in 2021, but now have made early exits from the playoff picture in the past two years.
