NBA Playoffs 2020: 5 reasons the Milwaukee Bucks can win it all

When the NBA season went on hiatus, the Milwaukee Bucks led the league with a 53-12 mark. In other words, they were, and are, the favorites headed into the homestretch.

Records continue to be set. Depending on the state, the number could be in cases, hospitalizations, deaths. Admittedly, those two sentences back-to-back sound rather insincere or superficial. Then again, the NBA is planning to hold its season’s conclusion at a theme park slash resort in a state that as recently as June 20 announced 4,049 new cases of COVID-19 and followed that record high with 3,494 new cases.

The NBA season is tentatively set to resume on July 31. If these numbers are a great deal lower and under control — if hospitals are not overwhelmed — then maybe this plan can be pulled off in a low-risk manner with very few consequences. But, even under a best-case scenario, the season would be resuming in a theme park slash resort. It all sounds rather ridiculous and at the season’s start would have read as unbelievable satire or horrendous fan fiction. Satire as a lived experience is never all that funny and is usually so perplexing and draining that the moral is difficult to stomach.

A season that has yet to begin is possibly easier to dismiss. Love not had remains a fantasy. Part of the drive to relocate within the worlds of Disney is the finish what you start ethos. The other part of that drive has a great deal to do with money. Thus, while many of us quit playing a sport or hobby as we age, we tend to hold our professional athletes to living out those dreams — to collect those checks for making good on childish play.

What postseason advantages do the Milwaukee Bucks have?

The Bucks can still be considered a young team in large part because Giannis Antetokounmpo is only 25, but the clock feels like it’s ticking. With only one year left on his contract, his window in Milwaukee is uncertain. That is not to say he is any more likely to leave than to stay, but simply to acknowledge the rumors and speculation have already begun. As it was with LeBron James and Tim Duncan, so it is with Giannis — either path is possible. But then there is also the fact that Milwaukee entered last season’s playoffs with the best record in the league only to have Toronto lap them in the playoffs. The young, goofy Bucks from a few years ago have all been traded or let go in order to build the current roster, and the current roster is built to win if not now, then very soon.

Playing out this season’s string in Florida is not about development or learning curves. Playing in Florida is about amassing records — one way or another. What follows from here is five reasons as to why the Bucks will win the 2020 NBA title.