Jrue Holiday's impact with the Milwaukee Bucks was felt on and off the court. We'll remember these moments.
Jrue Holiday may be leaving, but he'll be a legend in Milwaukee forever.
One day after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story indicating that Holiday wanted to end his career in Milwaukee, everyone learned he was, in fact, leaving.
Holiday was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers, part of a trade that brought star point guard Damian Lillard to Milwaukee. At its most basic, Milwaukee exchanged elite defense for offense, sending a five-time All-Defensive Team selection elsewhere in exchange for a scorer with limitless range.
It's a perfect fit and makes the Bucks a favorite to win the Eastern Conference, but it doesn't subtract the bittersweetness of losing Holiday, who was a primary contributor to an NBA title and left a legacy of off-the-court goodwill.
His stay was relatively brief but memorable.
Holiday arrived in a late-night trade, though another move stole the spotlight in a weird way
The Milwaukee Bucks were coming off the early playoff exit in the "bubble" during the 2020 COVID-19 season, with the 2020-21 season set to begin around Christmas, so the timing was unusual. But in mid-November 2020, the Bucks struck a late-night trade to acquire Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans, in exchange for George Hill, Eric Bledsoe and first-round picks in 2020, 2025 and 2027 (with the right to swap in 2024 and 2026).
It was, and still is, a blockbuster trade. But what made it bigger in the moment was that it seemed to happen in concert with reports of a sign-and-trade deal that would bring shooter Bogdan Bogdanović from the Sacramento Kings.
But not only did the latter trade fall through when it appeared the teams discussed the parameters before a moratorium on such discussions had lifted, the NBA investigated and stripped the Bucks of a 2022 second-round pick for "gun-jumping" (and notably not "tampering").
Still, Holiday's arrival was a signal to Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo that the team was serious about pursuing a championship, even at a high cost. And one month after acquiring Holiday, Antetokounmpo signed the "Supermax" extension.
In 2021, Holiday himself signed an extension with Milwaukee.
A steal that will live forever
In a 2021 NBA Finals littered with moments that will remain iconic in Milwaukee forever, Holiday may have made the biggest play of the series.
His steal on Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker played into the moment that sealed Game 5 in Phoenix, giving the Bucks the edge in the series and allowing them to clinch the championship with a Game 6 win in Milwaukee.
Booker drove the lane for Phoenix with Milwaukee ahead, 120-119, but Holiday muscled away the ball, angled down court and threw an audacious alley-oop to Antetokounmpo that clinched what became a 123-119 victory.
The Bucks, of course, went on to win Game 6 and hoist their first championship trophy in 50 years.
He turned Marcus Smart into a meme
Holiday's block and steal in the 2022 postseason also became an uplifting moment on the road, giving the Bucks a 3-2 series lead against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Celtics guard Marcus Smart went flailing into the air when Holiday's steal at midcourt short-circuited a final Boston possession and gave the Bucks a 110-107 win.
The memes, it turned out, were very good.
Just moments earlier, Holiday had gone up for a block on Smart and then threw the ball off Smart out of bounds, giving Milwaukee the possession with less than 7 seconds to go.
Holiday had also played a key role in Milwaukee's Game 3 win.
He scored 51 points in a game
Holiday isn't known for his scoring necessarily, but Bucks fans may have forgotten that Holiday is on the select list of Milwaukee Bucks to hit 50 points in a game.
Holiday scored a career-best 51 against Indiana in March of 2023, and Giannis had a triple-double in the 149-136 victory.
An all-star after waiting 10 years
Holiday was named to the 2023 all-star team, a well-deserved honor that marked his second career all-star appearance with a decade in between.
In a pre-meditated move, Holliday wasn't the first choice by Antetokounmpo in the captain's all-star draft; that honor went ... to Damian Lillard. Holiday also competed in the all-star skills challenge that weekend, filling in for a banged-up Giannis.
Jrue and Lauren Holiday were pillars of the Milwaukee community
Holiday and his wife, former U.S. national-team soccer player Lauren Holiday, vowed to make a difference in Milwaukee, and they delivered.
The Holidays upgraded women's shelters and continued working with their social justice fund to support Black and Brown businesses. Several grantees from the JLH Fund run businesses in Milwaukee.
They won the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award, presented by the ESPYs, highlighting their community-service efforts. Jrue was twice recognized as the best teammate in the NBA with the Twyman-Stokes Award.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jrue Holiday's Milwaukee Bucks highlights, on and off the court
