Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t thrilled about one key game’s absence from the team’s 2024-25 schedule.
As Milwaukee Bucks fans wait for the 2024-25 NBA schedule to be released, the league gave basketball enthusiasts a teaser on Thursday. The Athletic’s Shams Charania revealed the league’s projected Christmas Day 2024 schedule on Thursday and while it features several exciting matchups, one key team is missing from the mix.
Following the projected Christmas schedule’s release, Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t wait long to give his opinion on social media. The always-honest two-time NBA MVP didn’t even use a word to describe his feelings, instead simply typing “No Christmas game?!” with a pair of laughing emojis.
Any sane Bucks fan will agree with the ‘Greek Freak.’ Any world where Milwaukee isn’t on the Christmas Day schedule is laughable at best.
The Bucks playing on Dec. 25 has become somewhat of an unofficial tradition. Giannis & Co. haven’t had Christmas Day off since the 2017-18 season, having played on the worldwide holiday in each of the last five campaigns. Although Milwaukee’s 2-3 record in those contests is far from amazing, it doesn’t change the fact that a team boasting the likes of Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard should be under the spotlight on a day like that.
It’s even more embarrassing when you realize that the Bucks are the only team with a championship win since 2019-20 that aren’t playing on Christmas this year.
While some of this year’s matchups do deserve to be there, others don’t. For example, everyone understands the appeal of a LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry matchup, but do the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors truly deserve to be under the spotlight after being Play-In Tournament teams last season?
Who knows? Perhaps the Bucks will use the snub as motivation to hit the ground running once the season begins. It’s clear that NBA officials are forgetting just how dangerous and special a healthy Milwaukee roster can be, so it’s up to the Bucks to prove that they’re still capable of being a force.
After suffering a first-round elimination to the Indiana Pacers in the spring, the Bucks currently own the ninth-best 2024-25 NBA Finals odds (+1300) on FanDuel Sportsbook.