It all started this Wednesday night, when Joel Embiid said what many of us already had in our minds. The Sixers center, whose team was eliminated in the first round of postseason, posted a question on social media suggesting that Milwaukee pretty much gave Boston the championship when they traded out Jrue Holiday last summer.
Now that the Celtics are 3-0 in the NBA Finals series against the Mavericks, the All-Star big man asked, “Did the bucks give them the championship?” on his X platform.
It all started in last October, when the Bucks traded the veteran guard to Portland in exchange for Damian Lillard, in a three-way negotiation in which the 33-year-old was snatched by the club from Massachusetts, dealing Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon in the negotiation.
“Jrue Holiday should have been Defensive Player Of The Year 2 or 3 times.”
HBD NBA Champion @Jrue_Holiday11 pic.twitter.com/7gYk2f7h58
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 12, 2024
Jrue, who already proved himself when he won an NBA title with the Bucks back in 2021, has been averaging 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game during these playoffs. Now that his squad is close to sweeping the Dallas team for their championship run, Holiday’s contributions have not gone unnoticed around the league.
Just after their Game 3 victory, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley called the guard the “biggest difference-maker” in the Boston squad, while his very own teammate Jayson Tatum, agreed completely.
“I don’t know how they let us get him but, I’m so happy that we got Jrue on our team,” the All-Star forward said. “He just makes winning plays. He’s obviously been here and won a championship, and more than anything, he raises everybody else’s level on defense.”
Another who claimed to have seen this coming was former coach George Karl, who assured last year that the Bucks would regret this decision. “People said I was crazy when I said swapping Damian for Jrue was a downgrade,” he wrote on X.
Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers praised Holiday, and suggests that his club made a huge mistake by letting him go
Even though he’s only led the Bucks for half a season, Doc Rivers seems to already feel both the admiration and the nostalgia that the Wisconsin locker room feels for their old teammate Jrue Holiday. According to the veteran coach, it is very evident that he left a huge void when he exited the club.
“It was more not that they wanted him back. They loved Dame and all, but he was their leader,” he shared on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “He led by example and by what he did, you don’t just replace that. That takes a little bit of time and they did this trade late, so it had everybody probably in a shock.”
Jrue is mostly known for being a one of the most balanced athletes in the league, as his impact stretches to both sides of the floor, as a defensive powerhouse and a precise shooter. However, his best quality comes from being the player who does the dirty work and gets the job done so that his own teammates can shine.
“When you get to Milwaukee, you coach, and you just hear stories about him, it’s not on the floor. But just as a person. You got to put this guy on another level. They just don’t make a lot of people like that, and he’s a champion. It’s really cool. It looks like he’s going to get another NBA stars suggest Bucks gave Celtics the NBA title with Jrue Holiday trade and it’s because not just his play, but who he is,” Rivers concluded.
