It has been close to two months since the Milwaukee Bucks last played a game in the NBA. Leading the Eastern Conference and having the best record this season (53-12), the Bucks remain one of the strongest title contenders if and when the season resumes.
If you ask Pat Connaughton and Robin Lopez, they are eager to finish what they have started. The two are doing their bit with in-home workouts to ensure they are ready to roll when the league opens its doors again.
“I have never been a big fan of the exercise bike in my life. Every time I have had one, it has only managed to gather dust. However, during this period, I have continuously used an exercise bike. I won’t say I’m enjoying it or it is something innovative but I’m doing it to stay fit,” said Lopez.
The forced hiatus may have kept the Bucks out of action, apart for longer than expected, but Connaughton isn’t too worried about that affecting the team’s camaraderie.
“The chemistry that we built throughout the first however many games it was, wasn’t something that was built to only last for that,” Connaughton said.
“I do believe that it’s not ‘this was our year to do it.’ I think it’s bigger than that. It’s being built for the future.”
But what Lopez misses the most is the unique pre-game wrestling ritual. “I can’t tell you how many times I have woken up at night with a sense of melancholy wistfully wishing that I would have some kind of human contact, an elbow to the face, a fist to the stomach, a fist to the gut, just some kind of human contact from one of my teammates,” quipped Lopez who visited India in 2016.
With reports of league resuming in Las Vegas or Orlando in a ‘bubble’ concept, Connaughton and Lopez made their preferences clear. “Well, I know which one I would prefer. I think Florida is pretty sensible as Disney is one large area and you can control access pretty well. But that’s just me and my opinion, I haven’t heard anything concrete,” said Lopez.
“I am a little bit more of a roller coaster guy than I am a gambling guy. So that would be my only two cents,” added Connaughton.
If there is any team that wants the season to resume sooner, Bucks maybe on top of the list, rightfully so too being the best team in the NBA till date this season.