The Monday Morning Media Roundup: December 21st, 2020

He’s staying.

Let's roundup!

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Giannis Antetokounmpo Signs Multi-Year Extension With The Milwaukee Bucks (Bucks.com)

Can you imagine how satisfying this was for the team site’s PR flack to write up? I’m sure they had it sitting in “drafts” for a long time, but to finally hit “publish” must’ve been a sweet relief.

I said it on Twitter immediately after the news broke/Giannis tweeted his decision to sign the extension: It’s like we’re living through a fairytale.

The Giannis twists, turns and worry: Inside the largest deal in NBA history (The Athletic - Subscription Required)

This is a moment so consequential in team history that it may indeed be worthy of subscribing for even a month to read this long-form breakdown of the twists and turns leading to Giannis’s extension.

Milwaukee’s Monumental Moment: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Decision to Stay Brings Fresh Hope to the Brew City (The Recombobulation Area)

Friend of the site Dan Shafer really hit on a lot of the deeper consequences that will ripple out from Giannis’s decision to stay with Milwaukee. Beyond the competitive boost, his presence should help continue to keep business in and around the Fiserv Forum booming (for ownership and the city at-large). In addition, choosing Milwaukee of all NBA markets should provide a real boost to morale for fans and citizens of the city alike. It’s quite rare for a superstar in such a cosmopolitan sport to actively want to stay in Wisconsin, and when one does choose to it speaks well to the individual and the city itself.

Giannis Antetokounmpo signed his extension and Bucks fans are relieved (The Undefeated)

Thought this was a fun little read to go along with our general rejoicing in these parts and elsewhere as The Undefeated polled Bucks fans across the nation for their reaction to the big news. From transplants out in LA to those who have been around since the very beginning, it was a monumental day that, honestly, has no parallel.

Milwaukee Bucks credit ‘Giannis effect’ for uptick in business, now rethinking jersey patch plans (CNBC)

Shocking development: Giannis signing resulted in a huge surge in sales of merchandise and other team ephemera. Having a superstar helps the bottom line!

Another aspect of Giannis staying: Milwaukee gets to remain on the map in the minds of those around the globe who follow the league. I’ve always loved having the chance to bring up where I’m from with people around the world, only for them to say “Oh, the Bucks, right?”. It’s nearly impossible to spend enough money to buy that kind of recognition, and I’m not sure how valuable it is when it comes to dollars coming in to the team, but it’s a value all its own. As always, a special shoutout to the international among our readers and commentariat.

Oh, and here’s TV hostage-in-chief Marc Lasry prior to the extension, for giggles:

We polled NBA execs on what the Giannis extension means for trades and free agency (Hoops Hype)

We will have to wait for it to actually legitimately happen, but with a Jrue Holiday extension likely now on the horizon (in the realm of maximum money), we’re very close to seeing the ownership group shell out significant amounts of cash in luxury tax payments. And heck, if having skipped out on it a year ago means they’ll be able to bear an even larger burden a few years from now, maybe it’ll have all been worthwhile?

How an NBA franchise pivoted to operating a chicken restaurant during the pandemic (Yahoo!)

Mmmmmmmm... chicken.

Know Your Enemy

Boston Celtics - Celtics Blog - “There’s a lot of work to do”: 10 Takeaways from Celtics/Nets

Something tells me the Celtics are going to take a bit of time to hit a rhythm with Kemba Walker out of commission for the foreseeable future. That’ll be to Milwaukee’s benefit, though we’re looking just as rough and tumble this preseason. The result? An ugly grudge match to open the 2020-2021 season.

Golden State Warriors - Golden State of Mind - Well, never mind on Jeremy Lin

And so the saga of Jeremy Lin to the Warriors came to a close before it even got off the ground. Steph Curry coming back will be a big boost to the team, but... uh... you know... Andrew Wiggins is going to be his side-kick this season.

New York Knicks - Posting & Toasting - Sorry, but Julius Randle isn’t going to come off the bench this season

Things seem to be going well in year (checks notes) 15 of the Knicks rebuild? I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually. Maybe.

Fanpost of the Week

retired janitor’s “How Many Games Will The Bucks Win?”

He wins top marks for being the only Fanpost of the last week, so consider this a win by default. HOWEVER! It’s still a worthwhile read. His mathematical approach to determining wins and losses tend to be more worth reading than my “my favorite color is green and I’m a Gemini, therefore we’ll go 1-2 this week” approach.

The Social Media Section

A certain kind of title. A worthwhile one.

Good people doing good things

Guy just looks good with “BUCKS” on his chest

All these onions making me cry way too much this morning

This should be all of us the rest of this season

Peter Feigin is the true power behind the throne

Giannis’s city sure looks pretty

Legitimately amazing

Bobby tweeting like he’s been there with Giannis since the start

Boom, got ‘em

Ersan staying ready for buyout season

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Riley’s 2020-2021 Preseason Prediction Record: 0-0

retired janitor’s 2020-2021 Preseason Prediction Record: 0-0

I’m not sure if it is the extremely truncated nature of the preseason or what, but even the formal start of the season feels... less than formal? There may be some teams who get out to a hot start, but I can’t imagine we’re going to be one of them (though Khris and Giannis appear in mid-season form already).

However, I don’t make the schedule, I just prognosticate from it: The Bucks open their campaign on the road against the Boston Celtics this Friday, host the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, and then head out east again to play the Knicks on Sunday. Against my better judgement, I think the Bucks will go 3-0. We’ll beat the Celtics since they’ll lack a Kemba to rip the defense to shreds, an Xmas win would help wipe the memory of last year’s loss to the Sixers on the same day, and it’s the Knicks.

Welcome back basketball! Good to have you here yet again.

Happy Monday!