Over the past decade-plus, many people in the entertainment industry have nicknamed Atlanta, Georgia “Hollywood South,” as big-budget movies now get made in Atlanta, seemingly, on a daily basis.
But not even the best Hollywood screenwriters could have written a better story than what is about to take place in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Atlanta Hawks will face off with the Milwaukee Bucks beginning Wednesday night at the Fiserv Forum.
In May of 2013, Coach Mike “Bud” Budenholzer arrived in Atlanta, equipped with all the lessons he learned sitting beside Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, with the hopes to turn the Hawks into a NBA title contender.
A five-year roller coaster ride, highlighted by a 60-win 2014-15 season that saw Coach Bud win NBA Coach of the Year, ended with a 24-58 season in 2018, and ultimately the “mutual” agreement between the organization and Coach Bud to part ways.
The NBA rumors at the time were that when Coach Bud saw what most thought would be a long tough road ahead to rebuild a young Hawks squad. He decided to skip town in hopes of finding an easier path to success.
Fast forward three years.
The long road that most expected the Atlanta Hawks would have to take to rebuild the franchise turned out to be an express lane, and the car the Hawks are driving is powered by engine named Trae Young.
Meanwhile, the easier path led Coach Budenholzer to Milwaukee, and after three years of regular season success followed by playoff disappointments, many now believe Coach Bud must win this series to keep his job along the Bucks sidelines.
Jim Paschke, the long time TV play-by-play voice of the Milwaukee Bucks stopped by Dukes and Bell earlier this week to give his thoughts on the series and Coach Bud’s future in Milwaukee.
Paschke, assured Dukes and Bell that Coach Bud was looking forward to facing his old team, and pointed out the Hollywood-like ironies of these two teams and the two coaches that lead them.
If the Hawks advance past the Bucks to reach the NBA Finals, they may be sending Coach Bud to the unemployment line along the way.