Despite the twists and turns of the season, the Bucks are still in Third Place in the East Zone with 25 wins and 13 losses. As the roster becomes more complete, the Bucks' rankings are likely to continue to rise and they cannot be removed from the championship-winning ranks. But former NBA star Robert Horry has asserted on his podcast that the Bucks are unlikely to defend their titles this season.
In the show, Horry said that he does not think that there is a team that can complete three consecutive championships today, and the possibility of completing the defense of the title is quite high, but the difficulty is also quite high. He cited the Lakers as an example, saying that after the Lakers won the championship in 2020, the team's lineup changed dramatically, and it became a completely different team in the 2020-21 season.
Horry then said: "We all know that the Bucks can't finish defending the title because they shouldn't have won the title in the first place. They won the title only because Durant's toes were too big. ”
In this year's Second Round in the Eastern Conference, the Nets and Bucks played seven games. Before the end of regular time in the seventh game, Durant hit a three-point shot, but was converted to a two-pointer for stepping on the line. As a result, the winning goal turned into an equalizer, and the Nets were dragged into overtime and eventually lost. If Durant's toes weren't that big, maybe it would be the Nets who will advance, and last season's ending would be completely different.
Of course, Horry's argument that "he couldn't complete the defense because he won the championship last time was a fluke" is untenable. There have been counterexamples in history. In the 1989 Finals, the Lakers suffered a large-scale injury and were eventually swept by the "bad boy" Pistons. The Lakers' three-game winning streak was shattered, and the Pistons won the first championship in team history.
At that time, many media believed that the Pistons' championship was a fluke (although the Pistons generals believed that if Thomas the Smiling Assassin had not been injured in the 1988 Finals, they would have won the championship long ago). It wasn't until the 1989–90 season, when the Pistons finished defending their title and finally played an undisputed performance, that critics shut up.
At present, the 2021-22 regular season schedule is not yet halfway through. At this point, the exclusion of the defending champions is somewhat hasty. (Supine Braces/Hairy)