Milwaukee Bucks: Debunking narratives surrounding the 2021 title run

Despite the adversity they faced along the way, the Milwaukee Bucks managed to emerge as champions at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Winston Churchill is often attributed as having first declaimed the popular adage, “History is written by the victors,” a timeless quote meant to evoke the spoils of war, particularly in controlling the ensuing narrative. (Historians say it was actually wrongly attributed to him, due in part to a similar saying he was reportedly fond of: “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” But that’s neither here nor there.)

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The idea, regardless of who actually thought of it first, has transcended generations as something of an incentive for one side of a conflict to overcome adversity in any way, shape, or form.

It’s a simple thought: the losing side is left to lick their wounds and endure what’s to come, while the winner is free to besmirch and begrime the former’s name however they like. It implies that regardless of the facts and the circumstances, the one left standing gets to have the last laugh; whatever their interpretation decides, the history books recognize as true.

But it’s also a truism that clearly does not apply when you are a small-market team in a National Basketball Association that thrives almost solely off narratives. This is not hard to find evidence of: the NBA fiefdom today remains largely awash with narratives that minimize each and every championship team’s achievement as the last team standing in the league. The Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors, and Los Angeles Lakers have all experienced this in recent memory.

The Milwaukee Bucks will be subject to narratives for years to come after their title-winning season in 2020-21

The latest NBA champions were not spared from this. It’s been months since the Bucks took the Larry O’Brien trophy back to the state of Wisconsin against all odds and back from down 0-2 (that was pretty cool). With preparations for the forthcoming season already underway, the 2021 NBA championship will forever be Milwaukee’s in the history books. This is simply an undisputed and incontrovertible reality.

Yet many naysayers in both mainstream and social media have much to say about the long-concluded season, even months later. Here’s why the popular narratives surrounding the Bucks’ 2021 title run do little to reduce the team’s immense accomplishment this year.