The Bulls don’t have a star a la Giannis Antetokounmpo. No one on their roster even comes close.
Far too many games have been a reminder of that as they kick around the .500 mark in the standings.
They do have Josh Giddey, and he’s going to have to be good enough even on nights when it doesn’t feel like he is.
On Saturday, the Bulls (15-16) watched a five-game winning streak come to an end in a 112-103 loss to the Bucks, and they almost came to blows with several Milwaukee players after the game.
Antetokounmpo, who had 29 points, dunked the ball on a solo runout with 1.9 seconds left, was confronted by Nikola Vucevic and the shoving soon started as both teams gathered at midcourt.
“He shouldn’t have dunked the ball,” Coby White said. “It was disrespectful to the game. I said, ‘Bro, c’mon, you’re better than that.’ And it kind of just broke out. It was an NBA scuffle; nothing really happened.
“You all won the game, the game is over with, why you got to do that? I think it’s a respect thing to the game and your opponent, but the game in general.”
As for the showdown between two “stars,” Giddey was held scoreless in the first half on 0-for-3 shooting, but he did all he could to try to make his presence felt in other ways. Considering he came into the game averaging All-Star-caliber numbers — 19.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.2 assists — and shooting a career-best 39.1% from three-point range, it wasn’t a stretch for him.
Or as coach Billy Donovan explained it, the next chapter in his development will be having an impact on winning just with his mere presence. It’s a key reason the Bulls’ organization acquired him for Alex Caruso in a deal with the Thunder two seasons ago and felt confident enough to sign him to a four-year, $100 million extension.
“After the All-Star break [last season], he really played well,” Donovan said. “Everybody felt like it was sustainable, something he could do on a continual basis. He was 22, really competitive, has good stamina, endurance and threshold. And he’s gotten better every year.
“I think the idea was, here’s a young player that’s had a tremendous amount of experience his first couple of years, learned a lot. Everybody in the organization felt that he could take another step, which he has done. You look at the improved shooting; I think he’s improved defensively. He’s got a better familiarity with the guys he’s playing with. He’s an easy guy to get along with; guys like playing with him. All those things probably added up to where we had to say, ‘Listen, we need to re-sign him.’ ’’
It has been money well spent individually for Giddey. As far as how much he can lift the team, that’s a work in progress with more sweat equity put in against the Bucks. After that scoreless first half, Giddey had eight points in the third quarter to spark a rally. He grabbed four rebounds and had three assists.
He was at it again in the final minutes of the fourth. Vucevic had back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to three.
But Antetokounmpo had four points in the final minute to increase the Bucks’ lead to seven. White hit a three with 33 seconds left, but that was as close as the Bulls would get. Tempers flared after the horn, and players had to be separated.
“I just didn’t understand it,” White said of the “disrespectful” dunk by Antetokounmpo. “I’ve never seen him do anything like that. I guess he got out of character for a moment.”