Bucks’ season on the brink due to Dame, Giannis injuries

Another on-paper superteam is hitting hard times in the postseason.

When Damian Lillard was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, it was a bold move to give him and former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo something they never truly had: an All-World talent beside them.

Let me remind you of the degree of feverish hyperventilating the Lillard acquisition sent throughout the league as pundits glowed about the move:

Andre Snellings: An absolute game-changer. The Bucks have been my preseason favorites to win the championship in each of the past three seasons, but after winning in 2021 they have been really impacted by the injuries to All-Star second option Khris Middleton. Giannis is the most dominant player in the NBA and their team defense is tough, but they lacked the volume shooting from distance to be able to properly maximize their potential. Lillard gives them the best shooting-scoring option on the perimeter east of Stephen Curry — and on paper makes their team appear to be unstoppable in the East.

Jamal Collier: League-altering. This move elevates the Bucks into superteam status, changes the conversation around Antetokounmpo’s impending future and sets the table for Lillard, after a decade in the league, to shine on his first true playoff stage with championship expectations.

That’s why today, as the Bucks announced they will be without both the Greek Freak and Dame Time for an extremely important Game 4 contest, it hits pretty hard for their fan base and organization.

Milwaukee currently trails 2-1 against the upstart Pacers, and their season’s hopes are on the line. Hearing “calf” and “Achilles” injury has to resonate big time for Dub Nation fans who watched a three-peat go up in smoke when two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant’s leg gave out in the 2019 playoffs. And who can forget Klay Thompson tearing his ACL that same series, a misfortunate event that would eventually be followed up by an Achilles tear of his own.

That’s why penciling a team to win a championship can be a fool’s errand, no matter how much star power they have. No one is immune to bad injury luck, and it has felled even the mightiest of paper super teams.