As the dust starts to settle on a devastating, yet predictable, week in Wisconsin sports, we reminisce on the golden era of Milwaukee Bucks basketball. An era that was brought to us by the most impactful athlete to come through Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Fortunately for mourning Wisconsin fans, Jordan Love is still under center with the Green Bay Packers.
After the Bucks traded Giannis to the Miami Heat, we can start to look forward to a new era of Wisconsin sports that doesn’t include the king of it all, and one of the best athletes to ever grace the state, the Greek Freak.
As we move forward, it opens the door for several Wisconsin athletes, including several Packers players, to take the mantle as the king of Wisconsin sports. The state is not short on talent despite the loss of a once-in-a-generation basketball legend.
With baseball in season, and the Milwaukee Brewers dominating once again, NL CY Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski is the leading candidate to take over in the interim. If the Brewers make a deep playoff run to the World Series, he could hold that title for a bit longer than the interim. If they win it all, there will be a mountain to climb for any other athlete in the state that isn’t with the Brewers, because the state is just as, maybe even more, desperate for a World Series as they were for an NBA Championship.
While the Brewers are the best team in Wisconsin sports right now, the other teams have some talent. The Bucks I’ll hit on quickly because, as we all know, they’re in a rebuilding phase. However, if Ryan Rollins, any of Tuesday night’s draft picks, or any of the Heat trade returns help turn the Bucks around much faster than expected, they could climb up the ranks fast.
Still, that is unlikely, so that leaves us with the Green Bay Packers.
Football is the pinnacle of US sports. The Packers are the kings of Wisconsin sports and one of the most popular teams in all of America. Meanwhile, NFL quarterbacks are among the most revered athletes in America. We’ve seen it in the past with Green Bay quarterbacks Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers rising to the top of the sports world as Super Bowl champions and MVPs. That’s why Jordan Love is next in line to be the king of Wisconsin sports.
As awesome as the Brewers are, because of all the moving parts of baseball, individual players hardly ever have the same impact on the team as an NFL quarterback or an NBA superstar. Even as Christian Yelich was winning MVPs, Corbin Burnes was winning the Cy Young, and the Brewers were making deep playoff runs in the late 2010s and early 2020s, they were never talked about to the extent of Giannis and Rodgers, who were doing the same things around the same time. Still, if Miz is the once-in-a-generation pitcher that he looks like he might be, then it may not matter.
Which brings us to Jordan Love. He isn’t going to take the mantle just like that. He’ll have his competition within the state. Plus, he and the Packers still have their skeptics in Wisconsin after a pair of disappointing playoff runs following a promising first season in the Love era.
For Love to take over, he’s got to have that season. The season that stands out above the rest, where he takes a step forward both statistically and with the eye test. Some would argue, myself included, that he took the step from an eye-test perspective last season. However, the volume of stats was held back by a slow, run-heavy offense that frustrated many people, including myself.
He needs a season where he is unquestionably in the MVP running. Coupled with that, he needs to have a deep playoff run where he is the offense’s engine. He may even need to make the Super Bowl, depending on how the Brewers end their season.
Love will also be up against the two previously great Packers quarterbacks. As much as we shouldn’t compare him to them, people still do. It’s tough to beat what the last two have given the state. Green Bay has also won a Super Bowl under Favre and Rodgers. They’re a storied franchise, and as awesome as another championship would be, it may not have the impact of the 2021 Bucks’ championship or a Brewers’ World Series win.
Regardless, it’s not going to be easy for Jordan Love despite the boost that the Packers give him. Even if Green Bay can’t make a deep playoff run this season, suppose Love has the season many people believe he can, truly cements himself among the league’s best, and continues to build on that success for years to come, with the team continually competing and maybe winning it all. Then, he will likely become the king over time. Because nothing in Wisconsin sports is bigger than Green Bay Packers football.
