The NBA Doesn’t Need Your Big Market Team in the Finals
NBA fans on Twitter are stupid. There, I said it. Despite playoff TV ratings being higher than they were the previous season, some bozos on the internet still want to run with this narrative that the Phoenix Suns vs. the Milwaukee Bucks is an undesirable matchup for the league. Folks with names something along the lines of “LeGOAT236236” on Twitter keep trying to push the argument that these Finals will lack star power, that the teams are bad, that nobody will watch, and the Finals will be the worst we’ve ever seen. This couldn't be further from the truth.
For one it won’t be worse than the 2007 Finals where the Spurs swept the Cavs and Alexsandar Pavlovíc played 34 minutes a game. Nothing could be worse and more painful than those Finals. And two, The Suns and Bucks are amazing! They’re so much fun to watch! This has all the makings of an incredible, classic series. The storylines on both sides are super intriguing and rival that of any of the “star-studded” Finals we’ve had the last few years.
Let’s start on the Phoenix side. The Phoenix Suns had not made the playoffs since 2010 when they lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. After finishing 8–0 in the Bubble last year, narrowly missing the playoffs, the Suns added veteran all-star point guard Chris Paul. Paul is going for his first ring to cap off an amazing 16 year Hall of Fame career. After so many heartbreaking playoff losses and a bit of bad luck, CP3 is in his first finals. One of the 5 greatest point guards of all time, a ring is the last thing missing on the resume of one of the generation's best players. Another vital piece of the Suns was guard Devin Booker. Booker continued his ascension into NBA superstardom, drawing comparisons from some to the great Kobe Bryant along the way. Is this the start of him becoming one of the faces of the NBA for the next decade? Phoenix big man Deandre Ayton shook off the “draft bust” label with an insanely good postseason. Ayton and Booker might be forming the next great duo in the NBA. And how could I not mention Suns head coach Monty Williams! Monty Williams is one of the most likable coaches in the league, how wonderful would it be to see him win a ring! They’ve got tons of high effort, guys you just want to root for like Cam Payne, Mikail Bridges, Jae Crowder (some people don’t like to root for Crowder but hey I love aggressive trash-talking players). It’s a good, deep, talented team!
Then there is Milwaukee, a team that has been knocking on the doorstep for the last several years but never able to break through, maybe this is their year! The Bucks are led by two time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, which to me, seems to cut against the argument that these NBA Finals lack “star power” when one of the players has been the best player in the NBA two of the last three years, but maybe I’m just stupid. Giannis has taken so much hate from people over the last few seasons, and some of the criticisms about his game are totally valid and in many ways deserved, but people act like this man is a walking 7 foot tall Greek trashcan. Only 14 players have won multiple MVPs. 11 of them are in the Hall of Fame. The other 3 are Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Giannis. He’s an all-time talent type of guy and winning a ring would be a major legacy moment for him. The Bucks also have Khris Middelton a two-time all-star, who every single game can either be the most underrated or most overrated player in the NBA. Then there is defensive bulldog Jrue Holliday who the Bucks decided to trade for instead of trading for Chris Paul. How much fun is it going to be to watch them go head to head in the Finals? The answer is a lot, it’s going to be a lot of fun folks! And finally, we have Coach Mike Budenholtzer, who has almost been fired a dozen times over the last two years most recently two weeks ago when the Bucks were down 3–2 to the Nets in the second round. But hey, give coach Bud credit, he made really good adjustments after Giannis got hurt, specifically allowing Brook Lopez to play in the post and put pressure on the rim as opposed to just being a spot-up guy. Can he keep making good calls, or will he revert back into second-round Bud who seemed to lose control of the series? Throw in the aforementioned Lopez, Bobby Portis, PJ Tucker (another physical tough guy) and we have ourselves another team that has guys who can play top to bottom.
This matchup is actually insane. We’re going to get to see two top-tier teams that have a lot of depth and can win in a variety of different ways. From a pure “X’s and O’s” standpoint, it is one of the better matchups we could have asked for. Both of these teams play complete basketball. They're not solely offensive or defensive teams, they're not necessarily driven by their one star guy, they are true teams in every sense of the word. The Suns will be able to survive if Booker has an off night, they have other guys who can take on the load. The Bucks may be able to take a game or two if Giannis isn’t able to go because of his knee injury because Khris Middelton and Jrue Holliday are freaking all-stars! These are good basketball TEAMS.
Many will argue that these teams were not the best in the league this year, and they are not deserving of being in the Finals. That the only reason we’re even getting a Suns vs Bucks Finals is because of injuries. The Suns were down 2–1 to Lakers in the first round when Anthony Davis went down and then faced the Nuggets without their star point guard Jamal Murray and the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard. The Bucks barely got past the Nets who only had Kyrie Irvin, Kevin Durant, and James Harden healthy and on the court together for about 30 seconds in the series. And those people would be right. If not for injuries we probably do not have the matchup we have now.
Injuries, unfortunately, are part of the game. Being the team that stays the healthiest over the course of the playoffs is an accomplishment. In many ways, the ability to stay healthy is a skill. As the old saying goes, “the best ability is availability.” Is there some luck involved in that? Yes of course, but let me let you in on a dirty little secret- most Finals teams have a bit of luck along the way. There are always injuries to opposing teams. There are always calls and plays that go in your team's favor. That's just basketball folks. Last year the Lakers got to face a depleted heat team in the Finals, the 2019 Raptors didn’t have to face Durant, the 2015 Warriors got to play the Cavs without Kyrie and Kevin Love. I can go on and on, but historically, this is not an uncommon event. Is it disappointing when players get hurt? Absolutely! But it shouldn’t take away from what the Suns and Bucks have accomplished this year.
The playoffs were not perfect. They didn’t go the way that many fans would have liked them to go. It would have been better if there were no injuries if every team had been at full strength the whole season. I for one would have liked it better if Klay Thompson never got hurt and the Warriors were winning their 4th ring of the Splash Brothers era. The result we got was still good, however. The Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns are both deserving teams. They have fought this whole season to be in this situation. I personally cannot wait to watch this series, and if you’re a basketball fan, you should feel the same way.
