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The Milwaukee Bucks finished as the No. 3 seed of the Eastern Conference. However, the franchise hasn’t looked the same since making a head coaching change midseason. With Giannis Antetokounmpo dealing with an injury and Damian Lillard dealing with something of his own, their championship hopes are looking a bit bleak.
Overall, it’s not 100 percent clear what the problem is in Milwaukee. But that’s not stopping Stephen A. Smith from blaming Damian Lillard. The popular ESPN analyst doubled down on his take about the superstar point guard on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“I think the Indiana Pacers could beat the Milwaukee Bucks because Giannis ain’t healthy and we don’t know when Giannis is going to be back. And even though I got all the faith in the world in Dame Dollar, as in Damian Lillard, the reality is when I look at Milwaukee and I look at the way that they’ve struggled, and I look at that 17 and 19 record with Doc Rivers, they haven’t found themselves. And I don’t think that Damian Lillard is happy in Milwaukee. He’s got some personal issues, we wish him nothing but the best, challenging family issues distract all of us, he’s human, he’s not immune to anything that we’re not immune to. So I get all of that, but in the end it has compromised the team, he’s not the defender Jrue Holiday was.”
Smith seems to believe the Bucks are absolutely finished and the clock is running out of time on their season. He continues on by claiming the rest of the team on the roster just aren’t enough for Milwaukee to make a deep run. Or even get past the Pacers at this point.
“Khris Middleton ain’t the player he once was, Bobby Portis ain’t being as aggressive offensively as he needs to be, there’s no more Grayson Allen there he’s busy leading the league in three-point shots playing in Phoenix. And Connaughton and all of these other brothers, it ain’t going to be enough.”
What’s going on with Bucks’ star Damian Lillard?
It’s been a rough go for Damian Lillard this past year or so. The Bucks’ star was open about how difficult the move from Portland to Milwaukee was for his family. Additionally, Lillard filed for divorce back in October 2023, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
Dealing with personal issues could have certainly taken his mind away from the game. Those kinds of things are something everyone struggles with. So, if his head isn’t in the game due to personal issues, then that’s something for Damian Lillard to figure out.
Hopefully, he can focus up enough for the postseason. The Bucks are still favored to win the opening round against the Pacers. But a lot of that depends on whether or not Antetokounmpo comes back or not.
On top of that, the Bucks have been one of the worst teams in the league since naming Doc Rivers the head coach. So, who really knows what’s in store for Milwaukee’s future?
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