You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
The old adage is ringing true for the NBA right now.
The playoffs are sorely missing the Milwaukee Bucks.
So far, the Eastern and Western Conference Finals have been putrid.
9 games have been played.
7 of them have been decided by double digits.
The margins of victory in the other 2?
9 and 6.
The Bucks have had a flair for the dramatic over the past playoffs, playing close games and giving Wisconsinites more stress than necessary in some moments.
What these conference finals are missing more than drama, though, is star power.
Sure, there are stars.
Steph Curry. Luka Doncic. Jimmy Butler. Jayson Tatum.
None of them carry quite the gravitas that Giannis does for the league.
He’s given us those historic performances and legendary moments the past few seasons that these playoffs, quite frankly, have lacked.
This isn’t a claim against any sort of injustice.
The Bucks lost.
They Celtics won.
Period.
But, Giannis and the Bucks have been massively underappreciated for 4 years, now.
In their absence, the rest of the league may finally be starting to find out just how important they’ve been, and just how much they’re missed.