As usual, the Milwaukee Bucks had high hopes this season.
Armed with perennial MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo and a deep, balanced crew around him, the Bucks achieved the best regular-season record in the NBA despite dealing with some key injuries, and they entered the playoffs looking to win their second world championship in three years.
But instead, they fell flat on their faces when they got eliminated by the Miami Heat in five games in the first round of the playoffs.
It was a humiliating loss, as the Heat were the only NBA team to average less than 110 points a game during the regular season but put up 124 points a game against Milwaukee.
On Thursday, head coach Mike Budenholzer became a casualty of that loss by getting fired after five seasons at the helm of the Bucks.
BREAKING: The Milwaukee Bucks dismissed coach Mike Budenholzer, sources tell ESPN. Budenholzer is out after the East’s top-seed suffered a first-round loss to the Miami Heat. pic.twitter.com/wQp0Zk3lxi
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 4, 2023
Just two years ago, Budenholzer and the Bucks were on top of the world after winning the NBA title by overcoming a 2-0 series deficit against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
It was at least a somewhat curious decision, as Milwaukee had seemingly gotten over the hump permanently that year.
They lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Boston Celtics last year, but that was without Khris Middleton, who is arguably their second-best player.
The Bucks will seemingly always be title contenders as long as they keep their current core together, but it’s all about what they do in the playoffs, and it is hard to believe that such a talented team around Antetokounmpo has gotten to the championship series only once.
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