Giannis Antetokounmpo has a theory.
After playing in a nationally televised game on Christmas Day for the past six seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks will not be playing this Christmas. Given a chance to contemplate why the Bucks were not one of the 10 teams invited to the NBA’s biggest regular-season party this year, the Bucks’ eight-time All-NBA forward believes he has it figured out.
“I’m a little bit upset or kind of questioning it,” Antetokounmpo told The Athletic. “But I really believe there’s probably an algorithm that takes place within the NBA that shows who is the most attractive team or which team gets the most attention for them to be able to play in the Christmas game.”
Unable to find any logical reasons for the decision, Antetokounmpo was forced to speculate about what he can’t see.
“There’s gotta be an algorithm because if it’s — how can I say — like a popularity contest, I can give you facts,” Antetokounmpo said. “You want me to? Two of the NBA All-Star starters, Dame (Lillard) and Giannis, and the All-Star MVP, right? And the No. 1 vote-getter — not in the East, in the whole NBA — is not in the Christmas game? What? No, it’s a fact.
“The votes came out last year. I was the No. 1. Dame was a starter. I was a starter. Dame won the MVP. Dame won the 3-point contest. Maybe that has nothing to do with it. I believe we were one of the best teams in the East last year. Maybe not this year, OK. We don’t get a Christmas game. Why? Because we got a small market? Maybe that’s the case. Or I want to believe what I tell you, I think there’s an algorithm within the NBA that they choose which team will get the most attention, the most viewership that day.”
Antetokounmpo’s struggle to understand why the Bucks are not playing on Christmas is understandable when looking through what he has done recently as well as the Bucks’ team success.
Outside of the popularity Antetokounmpo cited in last year’s All-Star voting, he is one of three players to win NBA MVP over the last three seasons. The other two — Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid — are scheduled to play on Christmas. On top of that, the eight-time All-Star is also the only player in the NBA to finish in the top five in MVP voting in each of the last six seasons.
From a team perspective, the Bucks were the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference last season. The Bucks are one of two top-three seeds from last season, along with their NBA Cup final opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to not be featured on Christmas this season. The Bucks have amassed more regular-season wins across the last six seasons than any other team and they are the only NBA champion from the last five seasons to not be featured on Christmas this time around.
And while Antetokounmpo has the Bucks’ most prominent voice, he was far from the only player struggling to understand the decision.
“A lot of teams play on Christmas, so it’s not like it’s two or four teams and we gotta figure out who we’re going to pick in these spots,” center Brook Lopez said. “No, they have a lot of games on Christmas. So, yeah, I do think it’s disrespectful, but I don’t make the schedule. I don’t know how that happened.”
Khris Middleton, who has played on the last six Christmases like Antetokounmpo, Lopez and Pat Connaughton, also found himself frustrated by this year’s schedule.
“Definitely disappointing,” Middleton said. “We always want to play on Christmas. It’s the biggest day in the NBA besides the playoffs and the finals and whatnot. But I have a family now and kids, so now I can have a chance to open gifts without having to work the same day, so I’m definitely happy about that. But hopefully we won’t have too many more Christmases where we don’t play again.”
While players throughout the Bucks roster found themselves initially struggling to comprehend the snub, that disappointment has subsided as the season has progressed.
Bobby Portis told The Athletic he was immediately texting with Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo when he initially found out over the summer but now finds himself looking at the silver lining of having off on Christmas.
“It was disappointing when I first heard the news,” Portis said. “But as time has grown, especially how we started the season, we get two days off in an important time in our year coming from Vegas (for the NBA Cup) last week. So, to get Tuesday and Wednesday off, I think that’s going to be great for our legs, great for our minds.
“And then just to get away from the gym for a little minute and spend time with our fams, I think at first I was a little mad, but now it’s like Christmas is on the way, we got snow outside, so it’s fun.”
In the end, that is where Antetokounmpo also landed. There was disappointment at first, but that has turned into gratefulness over an unexpected chance to spend time with his family on a special day.
“I’m pissed,” Antetokounmpo said. “But I’m happy at the same time because I get to for the first time since 2017 — yeah, 2017 was the last time I actually spent Christmas like a regular person, I didn’t play a noon game. I get to, for once, sit on my couch and be entertained and watch NBA basketball, be entertained by other players and not the one doing the entertaining.
“So, yeah, I was pissed, but then 20 minutes later, I was like, ‘No Christmas game, huh? I get to spend the day with my kids and open presents.’ Like, you don’t take it for granted because like, LeBron (James) plays, Steph (Curry) plays, all of these big-time players play in Christmas games all the time in their career and they miss valuable moments. Like, we miss so much valuable moments from our lives and I’m a person that I try to not take things for granted. And if this is how it should be, this is how it should be.”
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6008028/2024/12/23/bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-christmas-game-snub/
