The bigger issue is it’s starting to look like they are wasting Giannis’ prime. He gave up on his bench which has been vital for them all season, odd challenges and lack of timeouts throughout, huge blown leads with no response, curious matchups and he never much has been into adjustments. He had obviously - and much discussed - a brutal closeout game. The only significant change I can see is the coach. ![]() Remember, he became a second round draft pick out of college after a torn meniscus. I’m sure he takes that given recurrent knee issues that kept him out much of this season and now going on 32. I also doubt Middleton goes anywhere with a player option for $40 million next season. Plus, in the new labor deal I read there are huge penalties against the player for seeking a trade publicly. He’s stated his affection for the Bucks many times and seemed to again in that much-admired postgame Thursday. Imagine what that team looks like without Giannis - oh right, we saw that, which got them in the hole against Miami in the first place - and he more than most stars seems unlikely to want out. The Bucks certainly aren’t listening to any deals. Giannis has two years left guaranteed and then a player option at $52 million, which he then could waive for a longer deal. Though I will say the books you get out of losing teams probably are not as beneficial. And as you note, the pay stays the same for much less work. But I often have just as much fun with the guys whose seasons end much sooner. And because it was the LeBron/Miami era, they weren’t taken seriously enough yet. I enjoyed those early 2010s Bulls teams because there were so many good guys to deal with. From a practical standpoint and as far as human relations and access to the combatants, the winning teams often are so much more difficult to deal with because of the way they are pulled in so many directions and in demand and then gain the ability - which not everyone takes - to be difficult to deal with because winners’ behavior are excused. He humanized it to obscure the point fans and media most like to make that the victors are winners and the defeated are losers. I think that's why Giannis’ postgame comments gained such currency. And these are people, after all, and win or lose they are the same people and experiencing much. Like John Kennedy said, “Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.” It’s the stories for us, and defeat also tells a story. And then with someone from his high school paper also there because of the demands on Rusty. There wasn’t an angle uncovered so that you’d virtually have to make an appointment to speak with Rusty LaRue. And at home perhaps double that with writers from the food section to find out what they ate or lifestyle about their gardening habits. By the time of the 1998 playoffs, the Tribune had 18 writers on the road. And not always Bernie because he'd drop off for some tennis match or baseball game if he felt like. I remember the start of the Bulls championship run at The Chicago Tribune in 1991, and even in most of those playoff series it pretty much was just me and columnist Bernie Lincicome. ![]() But the working conditions often change so much that you become more of transcriptionist. ![]() There is much more interest and more people are interested in your work and actually may read it for a change. It’s not quite that, either, but it’s much more fun for the fans the better the team is. But like with making a movie, it seems glamorous except for the seven straight days shooting 16 hours a day in some crap location. ![]() It’s still a better job than most everyone else has, so there is that.
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