It’s decidedly not fetch.
Stop.
Quit it.
Knock it off.
No, Bucks fans, I’m not talking to you. The Milwaukee Bucks may have self-destructed against the Indiana Pacers, their fourth early playoff exit in as many years. But the franchise is not asking for help to sabotage their long-term future, and they’re certainly not taking roster-building advice from you.
No, Bucks fans, I’m not talking to you.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, at the height of his powers and still putting forth a valid case to be considered one of the best basketball players alive, is still a Milwaukee Buck. And as has been the case for years, as soon as any notable event occurs, the vultures of sports media circle and prepare to gorge themselves on whatever sustenance they can find, regurgitating the same tired premise to satisfy the demand for Content.
No, Bucks fans, I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to the talking heads, the take merchants, the journalistic equivalent of flop artists. You know who they are.
They’re the writers, editors, and content creators who have had these posts saved in a “Drafts” folder for months. They’re the folks who refuse to consider presenting any sort of idea that would require discipline, rigor, and thorough analysis. Maybe those ideas exist, but they don’t please the Almighty Algorithm.
“Trade Giannis,” they say. “The Bucks are at an end, and they have to trade him now, or else.” “The team has nowhere to go, no assets to use, no future worth anything unless they listen to me, a Very Smart Basketball Writer.”
It’s not even annoying anymore; it’s boring. I’m tired of paying any attention to it, especially when it’s such a blatant ploy to attract attention, thus generating ad revenue, thus paying the bills. There’s so little value being added by these articles, and they require so little effort. I’d be insulted if I hadn’t seen so many instances of this since before the pandemic.
Now I’m talking to you, Bucks fans. Don’t fall for it.
These outlets and platforms deliver this content and add it to your timelines specifically to elicit a reaction. Deny them that payoff. Do not re-post it, do not challenge it in the replies, do not click the links… and certainly do not make any purchases from retailers and suppliers who choose to advertise their goods or services there.
It is still going to happen, to be clear. The environment has shifted to the point that journalism is all but required to engage in this sort of attention-grabbing. It’s version 2.0 of the phrase “if it bleeds, it leads” but instead of gruesome stories that are major departures from “the normal world,” the focus is on attracting eyeballs.
So let this futile act of resistance (which is an interruption to my sports-blogging retirement!) stand all the same: the Milwaukee Bucks are not trading Giannis Antetokounmpo until he asks for it. The Milwaukee Bucks should not trade Giannis until he asks for it. It is basketball malpractice to even consider trading the best player in franchise history, outside of his own request. What are we, the Dallas Mavericks?
If the big fella changes his mind, so be it. But we gain nothing from the swill being cast out into the internet in the meantime. So avoid it—your mental health will thank you.