On Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship by defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games. This ended a 50-year drought for the Bucks’ franchise and quite possibly has changed the narrative of how championship teams can be formed. Specifically, this Bucks championship has changed the narrative around how small-market teams can’t find success in a league that has focused on the formation of big-market super-teams in order to build championship-caliber teams. What Giannis was able to accomplish in his eight years in Milwaukee so far is certain to be the formula that smaller market teams might want to replicate in order to reach the pinnacle of the basketball world.
It’s no secret that in the past ten years, there has been an increase in teams acquiring superstar talent to assemble on one team in order to win a championship. For the most part, this formula has been largely successful because players with a higher and more versatile skill set translate to success in the game of basketball. Acquiring at least three such All-Star level players with high skill sets usually is a sign of super-teams. Since 2011, the Miami Heat of the early 2010s, the Golden State Warriors and arguably the Cleveland Cavaliers of the late 2010s, and now the Brooklyn Nets at the beginning of the 2020s would be considered superteams. All of these teams are made up of Hall of Fame level talent, and for the most part, with the exception of Cleveland, these teams are formed in big-market cities on the coasts. Cleveland is the exception here, but LeBron James is essentially a walking trip to the Finals for any team, so his Cavaliers should at least be mentioned here. In any case, this has been what many teams have tried to replicate in order to form championship-level squads. If this is the only way to winning in the NBA, however, why is it that Giannis and the Bucks were able to hoist the Larry O’ Brien trophy this year without going through this arms race that the rest of the league seems to be getting into?
In a small market such as Indiana, Charlotte, Memphis, or Milwaukee, the aura of the city isn’t a selling point for free agents most of the time. You have to understand that these are very young millionaires thinking about where they want to live and play basketball, and this is where these smaller markets are at a disadvantage. The advantage that big markets like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York have is often their location alone. Additionally, star players know that other stars want to play in these cities as well, so the allure of playing in a famous city while also being part of a winning and successful team is enough to persuade them to join up in big markets. How can small-market s combat this? Well, the answer is in the NBA draft and being able to select and develop talent.
Not every pick will turn into a legendary player, but smaller market teams are able to get their foot in the door earlier for players. Take Giannis, for example. Even after being drafted, Milwaukee knew he was raw and that he’d be a project in development for their franchise for years to come. During that development process, it is also essential for the small-market teams to continue to build and acquire pieces that eventually will turn into roles that complement a star capable of leading a team. For the Bucks, the acquisition and development of Khris Middleton, drafting Donte Divincenzo, and getting Pat Connaughton, Brook Lopez, PJ Tucker, and especially trading for Jrue Holiday were the steps to building a great supporting cast to Giannis who grew into their superstar. I liken this kind of development in a small market to what the Toronto Raptors were able to do in their 2019 run. They were able to grow Demar Derozan into a player worthy of being traded for Kawhi Leonard, and they surrounded Kawhi with homegrown talent like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, while also getting Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol.
One of, if not the most important part of building a championship team in a small market is the loyalty of the franchise player. There have been teams like the Pelicans and Pacers who’ve failed in this regard and have lost star players to larger markets, which then return the teams into rebuilding mode. Luckily for Milwaukee, Giannis was adamant in bringing a championship to Milwaukee and had unwavering loyalty and faith for his franchise. This obviously paid dividends for Giannis and the Bucks, and his choice of the rugged and “difficult” path says a lot about Giannis’ character and worth ethic. One theme I’ve noticed about these stars who practice loyalty for small to mid-market teams is that, more often than not, these players come from international backgrounds.
The three examples that come to mind are players like Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetkoumpo, and Tim Duncan. Even though Tim Duncan is American from the U.S. Virgin Islands, he isn’t from the mainland United States, so I’ll make him an exception since I believe that is an important distinction for this argument. With international players, I feel like they are more inclined to stay loyal to their teams because they don’t have the same ideals as American players might have when it comes to the NBA and playing with other stars. For example, the distinction between the AAU circuit in the states as opposed to international play comes into play when you think about the implications of both. The AAU and EYBL circuit assembles the best of the best American players and, most of the time, on the same teams. If that translated to success for the players back then, why wouldn’t they try to replicate that in the league? With players like Giannis and Dirk, they aren’t exposed to this system that incentives elite team-ups. Many of the American stars today are really good buddies from competing against each other from back in high school. It’d only make sense for them to want to play with their friends in their professional careers. Additionally, the American players know about these large-market cities more than the foreign players and understand what living in one of those cities means. Not that the foreign players don’t understand this too, but it probably isn’t important that Giannis lives in Los Angeles or New York. These are some of the factors on top of Giannis’ character and will that I believe led the Bucks to win in 6.
Loyalty comes in all different forms, and in order for small-market teams to compete in the age of the super-teams, it is vital that their stars stay in their market. The path usually isn’t easy, as seen by the Bucks’ past playoff blunders, but the road to a championship as a small-market team is going to be rough anyway. Building a team with the right pieces at the right time is what will get a team over the hump. Additionally, just because there are super-teams to go up against, winning in a smaller market isn’t impossible. How I think this run by the Milwaukee Bucks will change the league is that there will be more of a focus on the development of players so that a franchise can find their own Giannis and surround them with the right pieces to win, without having to just attract the best of the best to play for them. At the end of the day, star power still rules in this league, so why not build your own power if you can’t attract it? There seems to be more parity in the league with the exception of a couple of teams, so this way of building a team could pay off for a franchise even quicker than they may have thought, like the case for the 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks.
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