Fairweather or not, being a Milwaukee Bucks fan often offers little to no pride, at least in recent decades. Yes, we can listen to the glory days talked about by our elders of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. But quite frankly, when those two men played in Milwaukee, the NBA was a completely different game. Now, the NBA has been built on the backs of superstars like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Superman himself.
So what hope does that leave for the smaller cities of the NBA, struggling to compete with a lack of superior talent? Well, not much. In fact, the gloomy outlook in Milwaukee has fans talking about a potenital relocation. Herb Kohl quite honestly may be the least knowledgable owner in the association. And the Bradley Center (yes, zero naming rights) is one of the most basic, run down arenas next to the Target Center in Minneapolis. But the most humiliating aspect affecting Milwaukee lately is the fact that no one wants to play there, not even the Chairman himself, who prefers beautiful New Jersey instead.
"But we have Michael Redd!"
"Andrew Bogut still hasn't reached his potential!"
"Richard Jefferson can be viewed as a superstar... right!?"
In response: Michael Redd will be nothing more then a complement player to the likes of a Superstar like Lebron James, similar to that of Ray Allen on the Celtics, but not even quite on that level. Andrew Bogut, although productive, has never really lived up to the billing of a #1 overall pick, and never will. And Richard Jefferson hasn't been happy being in Milwaukee since the beginning of his tenure.
On a serious note, there is hope. Herb Kohl, as bad as he may seem at times, isn't really in need of any sort of quick money. I don't know if you have seen any of his stores, but the revenue coming in from them has been strong and there is an outside possibility that a new arena will be in the works very soon. Also, prior to the 2008-09 season, the Bucks fired GM Larry Harris, and hired former Assistant GM for the Detroit Pistons John Hammond, and also hired a hard-nosed, defensive focused coach in Scott Skiles. And with another potential lottery draft pick coming to the team in the 2009 NBA draft, the Bucks definitely have some things to look forward to...
- Chase Fiebig
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