Ryan Rollins’ emergence playing huge role in Bucks’ fast start

By Canadian Press on October 30, 2025.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins vowed that the contract he signed before the season wouldn’t cause him to lower the tenacity that enabled him to earn that payday.

That three-year, $12 million deal is looking like more of a bargain for the Bucks with each passing day.

Rollins moved into Milwaukee’s starting lineup after Kevin Porter Jr. sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of the Bucks’ season opener. He has been capitalizing on the opportunity ever since.

“It’s just the start for me, man, that’s how I look at it,” Rollins said after scoring a career-high 32 points to help the Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors 120-110 without Giannis Antetokounmpo on Thursday. “Just a good platform to me get situated, and then I just go from there. Keep doing what I’m doing that got me here. Just keep growing.”

Rollins scored his previous career high of 25 points Tuesday in a 121-111 victory over the New York Knicks. He followed that up by shooting 13 of 21 overall and 5 of 7 from 3-point range while also dishing out eight assists with only one turnover.

The Bucks needed that kind of effort without Antetokounmpo, who was ruled out due to a sore left knee. His breakthrough night helped Milwaukee improve to 4-1, a big reversal for a team that lost eight of its first 10 games last season.

“That’s a heck of a performance tonight,” teammate Cole Anthony said. “It wasn’t just on the offensive side, too. He turned us up defensively. He set the tone off the grim and guarded Steph (Curry) the whole game. That’s a heck of a performance.”

It was particularly special for Rollins because he began his NBA career with the Warriors, who sent him to the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2023 as part of the trade that brought Chris Paul to Golden State.

Rollins played just 12 games for Golden State as a rookie in 2022-23 but said Curry was a great mentor to him. The two-time MVP and four-time NBA champion signed a Warriors jersey for him after the game.

“Him being Steph Curry and him being just so down to earth and humble and just how he talked to me when I was just coming in, for who he was at that time and his stature, it was very humbling,” Rollins said. “That’s a great thing I witnessed my first year. It was great I got his jersey. I’m going to hang it up on my wall somewhere, for sure.”

Curry said he’s impressed with how far Rollins has come since that rookie year. Five games into the season, Rollins is averaging 18.6 points and 5.0 assists. He’s coming off a 2024-25 season in which he averaged 6.2 points and 1.9 assists – both career highs.

“Watching him on film before tonight, you can see he’s being very calculated on how to use his speed and create space and get downhill,” Curry said. “He’s shooting his shot when he’s open. It seems like the game has slowed down enough where he’s making proper reads. You obviously saw it tonight. He played fearless out there.”

Rollins also tangled with Curry midway through the fourth quarter, leading to an incident that could have caused the 23-year-old to lose his cool.

Rollins gave Curry a big bump in the open floor but wasn’t called for a foul as Golden State was bringing the ball upcourt with 5 1/2 minutes left. Rollins then absorbed a couple of hard fouls from Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga the next time Milwaukee had the ball.

“I didn’t expect nothing different,” Rollins said. “I kind of liked it. It just turns me up a little bit more.”

Rather than getting caught up in that, Rollins maintained his poise and made the biggest shot of the game. After Curry hit a 3-pointer to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 106-104 with 4:03 remaining, Rollins sank a 3-point basket of his own 10 seconds later to start a game-clinching 11-2 spurt.

“The biggest thing of the night is literally everybody on the court wasn’t afraid or hesitant about taking the shot,” Rollins said.

Rollins’ teammates already were well aware of his boldness. They also knew about his diligence.

“He puts the work in,” Bucks forward Bobby Portis said. “He stays late after practice and after shootarounds. It’s the same routine every day.”

Now he has the chance to show just what he can do. Rollins intends to continue making the most of it.

“He’s a tough kid, man,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “We’ve got a team full of tough guys. Resilient maybe is a better word. They just keep coming.”

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AP freelance writer Jack Albright contributed to this report.

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Steve Megargee, The Associated Press