LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Everything was simpler in November and December, back when the Milwaukee Bucks were rolling through the regular season and chasing a championship and no one knew anything about the coronavirus. Giannis Antetokounmpo had somehow improved his game, and the future was rife with possibility.

When the Bucks reconvened here at Walt Disney World for the N.B.A.’s restart in July, they were not whole. Two players did not make the trip after testing positive for the coronavirus — Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton eventually joined the team — but it seemed to foreshadow the challenges that loomed.

The challenge of reassembling the unusual qualities that had made the Bucks such a special team before the season was suspended. The challenge of generating energy in a spectator-free bubble. The challenge of unearthing their chemistry after a four-and-a-half-month hiatus. And, of course, the challenge of shining a spotlight on social justice issues as the world watched.

The basketball part of the equation never came together for the top-seeded Bucks, who were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Antetokounmpo, favored to win his second consecutive N.B.A. Most Valuable Player Award, sat out the Bucks’ 103-94 loss with a sprained ankle, relegated to the role of cheerleader as his teammates pushed on without him. Antetokounmpo had hoped to be healthy enough to play in Game 6.

Source: New York Times

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