Pat Connaughton: NBA title run showed Milwaukee Bucks' maturity, growth from previous seasons

GRAND CHUTE – Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Pat Connaughton spoke to The Post-Crescent after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium before the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Tuesday.

Here's what the 2021 NBA champion had to say about winning the title this year, the Bucks retaining head coach Mike Budenholzer and forward Bobby Portis, expectations for next season and more:

Q: Can you talk a little bit about last season with the Bucks and the experience of winning the NBA championship, especially after coming close the last few years before winning it this year?

A: Obviously, an experience like that is one you'll remember forever. I'd say it was just really cool to see what we had worked on the past two years and how close we had come. But to fall short and to see the support that remained in the city and the state, to see our group and the organization come together collectively and learn from it. Unfortunately, I think you learn more from losing than you do winning. So I don't want to say it's a necessary evil to go through, but it kind of is. And it takes awhile to really achieve the pinnacle of success, which is winning the NBA title, so for it to come full circle in these three years was pretty cool.

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Q: How special is it to have won the NBA Finals in the fashion that you did, being down 2-0 to the Suns to start the series before winning four straight games, and what does it say about the Milwaukee Bucks that you were able to accomplish that?

A: We'd like to start off series a little bit better. No one loves going down 2-0. But I think it just kind of showed our growth and our maturity as a team where we took it one game at a time. Even the first two games we lost, we weren't looking ahead. We had to learn from what the Phoenix Suns did that was different than what the Hawks did, that was different than what the Nets did, that was different than what the Heat did. You look at the first year I was here, 2018-19, we were the ones up 2-0 against Toronto. I think when we lost Game 3 in double overtime, it was one of those things where we looked ahead maybe a little bit more than we had to and we weren't mature enough to take it one game at a time. And to see how far we've come in just two years, going through that adversity and then actually implementing the things that we learned throughout that process, I think it's very fitting that we were able to be a team that came back from down 2-0 to win the NBA Finals, and I think it was very fitting for fans to be able to see it on the other end of the spectrum.

Q: Is Giannis Antetokounmpo the best player in the NBA?

A: Yes, Giannis is definitely, in my opinion, the best player in the NBA. Now granted, a lot of people say I'm biased, being teammates with the guy and friends with the guy. I think he's an even better person than he is a basketball player as I've gotten to know him over the last three years. I think Giannis continues to amaze not just myself but the world and his teammates on a nightly basis.

Q: Have you ever seen Giannis play better than he did in Game 6 of the NBA Finals?

A: Obviously, he scored 50 points in the NBA Finals. Game 6, clinching game to win the NBA Finals for us. But he's had major impacts on other games that may not get the statistics of the 50-point media frenzy. He makes his teammates better, he defends. The things that he does on a nightly basis I would say are the best parts about being his teammate because he's doing it for you, he's doing it on your side. I think he's got even more things to accomplish in his career, and he's got a higher ceiling that he can reach. I'm just happy to be one of his teammates and to have been along for the rides of his first NBA championship, his first MVP, his second MVP and all the other things he's accomplished. But most importantly, to be a friend, to help him, to be able to kind of support him and the things he's done. 

Q: What are your thoughts on Mike Budenholzer signing a three-year contract extension this offseason?

A: I love Coach Bud. You look at the things he's done here in the last three years, he's won an NBA title, and even before that the amount of wins that he's had, being the No. 1 team the previous two years in the regular season, getting us to the Eastern Conference finals and all that sort of stuff. He's a great coach and a great leader of our organization and our team. 

Q: What are your thoughts on Bobby Portis re-signing and how valuable is he to the Bucks?

A: I love Bobby. He's part of the bench mob. We know our role. We want to support the starting group. We want to help our team win in whatever ways we can. We remain energetic, we bring the intensity and the tenacity on a nightly basis. We're asked to do different things. It's not always scoring. Sometimes it's rebounding, sometimes it's deferring to the starters. It's always defending. It's all the little things, the winning plays, that's needed to be an NBA champion and a championship-defending team, and he epitomizes that. 

Q: What are your expectations for next season now that you got Portis back and the core of the championship team is still intact? Do you think the Bucks have what it takes to make another run at the NBA Finals next season?

A: You always feel that way, but I don't think we set any expectations. I think the things that we do and that we showed we do really well this season is we just try to get better every day. It's a long NBA season, we're back to 82 games. The playoffs are a two-month process if you're fortunate to get all the way, if you win four rounds. And so, you can't look that far ahead. You've got to try to make sure you're getting better on a daily basis, and we were this year. You stay within yourself, you stay in the present and you focus on that whether it's a practice day, a game day, a playoff game or a regular-season game, whatever it is. You can put yourself in a position to be an NBA champion and contender.

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Q: How motivated are you and your teammates to chase another NBA title now that you've gotten a taste of what it's like?

A: It's like ice cream. Once you taste ice cream you don't not want to have ice cream. It is the pinnacle of pro basketball, it's the pinnacle of pro sports to be a champion. I would say we're equally as motivated as we were to win the first one. You put yourself in position to win the second one, you're equally as motivated to try to win a third. You take it one day at a time, you take it one season at a time, you take it one playoff run at a time so that someday you can kind of look back and see the success that you've had. For us, we're going to take a little bit of time here this offseason to look at the success we had this past season and being NBA champions. But now it's time to go into the next season and reset and understand that we have a lot of work ahead of us that we have to do.