In the midst of the Milwaukee Bucks' first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, head coach Mike Budenholzer's brother died in a tragic car accident. When the Bucks lost, Budenholzer - who had the best record in the entire NBA - was quickly fired. What does this say about the NBA's culture?
Mike Budenholzer is 11th in NBA history in winning percentage, ahead of coaching legends like Jerry Sloan, Chuck Daly, George Karl and Rudy Tomjanovich.
He did an outstanding job once again this season, leading the Bucks to an incredible 58-24 record - the best in the entire NBA.
Budenholzer was also the head coach of the Bucks in 2021-22, when they very recently won the NBA championship.
All aspects considered, "Coach Bud" is one of the best in the history of the NBA.
Why in the world did the Bucks fire Budenholzer?
Inexplicably, after a free throw shooting collapse by Giannis Antetokounmpo (10-of-23 at the charity stripe in a game the Bucks lost by two in overtime), Milwaukee's brass decided to place all the blame on Budenholzer's shoulders.
This is the same man who lost his brother in a tragic car accident, right in the middle of the hotly-contested series with the Miami Heat.
This is the same man who was the head coach of the Bucks in Giannis' only season as an NBA champion.
What does this firing say about the current culture of the NBA?
You are a recent NBA champion head coach, and you get fired?
You have the best record in the entire league, and you get fired?
Your brother dies suddenly in the middle of a playoff series, and you get fired?
How about just being decent human beings? No understanding that Coach Bud may have been a bit off his game given the shocking tragedy he just suffered through?
The Bucks' organization is so wrong in so many different ways, here. What message does this send to every single person in your organization? Win a recent championship and have the best record... and that's not good enough?
What if the team had a bad regular season? Fire every single person in the entire organization, then?
The Milwaukee Bucks have totally failed the NBA in this instance. Why would anyone even want to coach in this league? All reason and logic have flown completely out the window.
Great coach Mike Budenholzer deserved better. I can only hope he ends up with my Brooklyn Nets, now.
No comments:
Post a Comment