Lots of “breaking news” from yesterday; where to start? The Milwaukee Bucks have traded Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat; in return the Bucks will get:
- Four players
- Three first round picks (2026 2031 and 2033)
- A first round pick swap in 2030
- A second round pick in 2033
Historically, when an NBA team trades away a superstar player, they do not get equal value in return. This haul looks like a lot – especially given that Giannis is 31 years old and only hit the floor in 36 games last season – but unless one of those first round picks wins the newly constructed NBA Lottery, this looks like a major tear-down and rebuild for the Bucks.
Clearly Giannis was the foundation of the Bucks’ franchise for the last 13 seasons which saw him win the MVP award twice and until last year’s injury-impacted season, he had made the first team All-NBA team seven straight times. However, that sterling string of accomplishments may have elevated some rhetoric about this trade just a bit. In announcing the trade and the details, writers for The Athletic said in the opening paragraph:
“The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, the most accomplished player in franchise history, to the Miami Heat just before the team’s self-imposed deadline of the 2026 NBA Draft, league sources confirmed to The Athletic.:
“The most accomplished player in franchise history”? Really? In 1975, these same Milwaukee Bucks traded someone named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for 4 young players. I will humbly submit here that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is more accomplished as an NBA player than is Giannis Antetokounmpo notwithstanding Giannis’ lofty achievements.
Moving on … Lionel Messi is en fuego in this World Cup tournament. In Argentina’s first game, he scored all three of the team’s goals; in Argentina’s second game he scored both of the team’s goals. The team has scored 5 goals in two games and Messi has them all. He now holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup competition with 18 goals and is three goals clear of the second place player. Not bad for a guy pushing 39 years old…
Next up … The College World Series came down to a winner-take-all game in Ohama last night. UNC was favored to win the title, but Oklahoma clearly had different ideas there. The final score was:
- Oklahoma 13 UNC 2
Congratulations to the Sooners on this win; it is their first College World Series title since 1994. UNC looked to have an advantage in the game. When Caden Glauber pitched in a game, the Tar Heels were 29-0 this season; Glauber pitched last night but the outcome was not as previously encountered.
Switching gears … Linda Cohn announced that she will be retiring in July of this year leaving ESPN and the SportsCenter anchor desk where she has made more than 5500 appearances over the last 34 years. I liked Linda Cohn simply because she did what SportsCenter was designed to do – – deliver the sports news of the day. She did not try to turn the program into a comedy act or engage in schtick; she gave us the news. Thank you for that…
Bonne chance, Linda Cohn.
Last item for the day … The Dallas Mavericks have a new head coach; it will be Dusty May who just led the Michigan Wolverines to the NCAA Championship in April. May’s coaching credentials are solid; in addition to the recent NCAA Championship, he also led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four three years ago. Coaching in the NBA is different; in college the head coach pretty much controls players’ minutes; that control is much more tenuous in the pro ranks. May will need to make an adjustment there.
I believe that his departure from Michigan is a not-so-subtle indicator that collegiate coaching has become far less enjoyable in the era of NIL and Portal Transfers. College coaches need to recruit and re-recruit all their players every year – – and still find time to get new ones who can play at a high level. There does not appear to be any “time off” at the college level whereas there are times on the NBA calendar when nothing is supposed to be happening.
Dusty May is another name on an expanding list of top-shelf college basketball coaches that have “moved on” in the last several years:
- Tony Bennett
- Jim Boeheim’
- Mike Krzyzewski
- Bruce Pearl
- Roy Williams
- Jay Wright
I think there is more than coincidence at work there …
Finally, this observation by Hunter S. Thompson:
“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
Tony Bennett was a basketball coach? That guy did everything.