The Drake Curse Takes Down Budenholzer.
The Buckette List
This past week, Milwaukee Bucks announced they were parting ways with head coach, Mike Budenholzer. This news came as a surprise to many Bucks and basketball fans. In 2019, Budenholzer was named coach of the year, in 2021 he got Milwaukee their first NBA championship in 50 seasons, and he ended the 2023 season as the top seed of the East. Though, it was disappointing to see the Bucks win only one game of their playoff series, and get knocked out the first round by the 8-seed Miami Heat.
But is a playoff early exit all it takes to get an NBA head coach fired? If so, then how does Dwane Casey of the Detroit Pistons have a job when they never even get to playoffs?
Damian Lillard took to Twitter to vocalize his take on Budenholzer’s dismissal.
Now anyone that watched Bucks-Heat games 4 and 5, saw Mike Budenholzer make some questionable decisions. In game 4, with only 6-minutes left, Jimmy Butler went off taking the Heat from a 12-point deficit to the win. It was curious as to why Budenholzer didn’t call a time out during those last 6-minutes. Once the game was tied, a TO would have changed the pace of the game, and given the team a chance to readjust strategy. Then in game 5, it was more of the same, and got the attention of many viewers.
However, something that viewers may not have been aware of, is that prior to game 4, Mike Budenholzer’s brother died in a car accident. With that context, it is pretty understandable that Budenholzer would be a little distracted and off his game during games 4 and 5.
So did the Milwaukee Bucks really fire Budenholzer for making a few questionable calls the week his brother died?
Instead of thinking the Bucks management team are a bunch of heartless insensitive blokes, I am more inclined to believe this downfall was the result of the infamous “Drake Curse”.
There is a superstition across sports that the Cannadian rapper Drake is cursed. The story goes, that whenever a team or player is associated with the star, or when Drake bets on a particular team to win, their performance will then be a poor one. Toronto Raptor superfan Drizzy Drake was named the team’s global ambassador in 2013. Which seemed like a great partnership, but since this designation Drake has gotten a poor reputation for his courtside behavior. Some believe that his courtside antics cross the boudaries of his role, to the point where he behaves as if he is a player on the team.
Back in 2019, during the Milwaukee Bucks - Toronto Raptors playoff series, coach Mike Budenholzer publicly expressed those very frustrations with Drake’s courtside behavior. This interview gained a lot of public attention, to the point where the city backed the coach’s sentiment and stopped playing Drake’s music on the radio. Since the incident Drake has never come to Milwaukee to perform.
After 2019 media around the cruse seemed to quiet down, until most recently, during game 2 of the Bucks-Heat playoff series. Drake had placed a hefty bet for Miami to repeat their game 1 performance and win again. That then became the only series game the Heat lost to the Bucks, and had some Heat fans blaming the defeat on Drake.
Then on April 24th, the same day as series game 4, the rapper announced additional tour dates. One of the added dates included a show in Milwaukee, which was a surprise since Drake had never before performed in Milwaukee. Then the very day that Drake announced his coming to the city the Bucks lose? To recap, since Drake made his announcement, Bucks lost games 4 and 5, and their head coach terminated.
I am not a superstitious person, but this chain of events seems like more than just a coincidence to me. Seems clear to me that the Bucks have a bad case of The Drake Curse.
Tell me I am wrong, find me on IG and Twitter @emmiwitdahoops
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