For the first time in seven years, opening gifts and building gingerbread houses will be the only things that Giannis Antetokounmpo and the rest of the Milwaukee Bucks have to worry about on Christmas Day.
Milwaukee won’t be playing on the holiday this year, stepping out of the spotlight while teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves get their chance to shine on one of the NBA’s most popular days of the season.
The Bucks haven’t had Christmas Day off since 2017, when Antetokounmpo had just one All-Star selection under his belt and was still awaiting his first MVP Award.
Of course, Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee have come a long way since then, but apparently that didn’t matter when league officials got to work on this year’s schedule.
And for that, they deserve coal in their stockings. Lots of it.
This is one of the worst Christmas Day snubs we’ve seen in recent memory.
It’s taking a lot for me to say this, too. As a Massachusetts native who was thrown into Bucks Country during my college years in Milwaukee, it didn’t take long for me to realize that Wisconsinites weren’t fond of Celtic green, especially if they had a couple of IPAs in their system.
Very rarely will I come to the Bucks’ defense. After all, I had to watch them pummel Boston during a 2019 Eastern Conference semifinal series with tickets to Games 2 and 5—a pair of Celtics losses.
I never did recover from that in college, financially or emotionally.
But that won’t stop me from pointing out the league’s wrongdoing when it comes to this season’s Christmas Day slate. To have the Spurs, a team that went 22-60 in 2023-24, playing in front of millions is nasty, nasty work.
There’s no denying that San Antonio big man Victor Wembanyama is a generational talent, but when he’s off the floor, the last thing I want to see on Christmas of all days is Zach Collins hucking up shots.
With that being said, the Spurs did get a bit of a facelift this offseason, adding veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes along with No. 4 overall pick Stephon Castle. So, there’s a chance that they could at least be entertaining.
Still, they don’t deserve to be playing over Milwaukee on Christmas Day.
Minnesota is a different story. There’s a case to be made that the Timberwolves have earned this. They just made the Western Conference finals, Anthony Edwards could be the face of the league somewhere down the road, and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid has gained a cult-like following.
I’m still siding with the Bucks.
Until we see sustained success from Minnesota, the Timberwolves’ most recent playoff run should be considered an anomaly.
Milwaukee has been bounced in the first round of the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. But it hasn’t been stripped of its status as a contender just yet, and there’s a very good chance that Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard will take this team far in 2023–24.
This will probably be the first and last time I ever sweet talk the Bucks, but Christmas Day basketball won’t be nearly as good without them.
