The Blue Jackets are tied 1-1 with the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Second Round, and the Bucks, like the Blue Jackets, are also facing a Boston team, the Celtics, in the second round of the NBA playoffs. This led to speculation that Dubinsky was taking another jab at Boston, just as he did in an interview with Columbus TV station WCMH following the Blue Jackets' 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 2 at TD Garden on Saturday.
"I can tell you that it's going to be a hell of a lot louder than it was in Boston," Dubinsky said when asked what the crowd at Nationwide Arena would be like for Game 3 of the best-of-7 series Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Dubinsky insisted Monday that he was pro-Bucks and not anti-Boston in his choice of head gear.
"I've got family from Milwaukee, so I went to a Milwaukee game not too long ago and picked up the hat, so I liked the hat," he said.
With Dubinsky's growing playoff beard, it was hard to tell if his tongue was firmly planted in his cheek, but there is truth in what he said. Dubinsky's wife Brenna is from Milwaukee, and her grandfather, Al McGuire, was a Basketball Hall of Fame coach most notably at Marquette before becoming a renowned television analyst. The court at Bradley Center, the Bucks' former home, was named for him.
"Milwaukee's a big part of my family now," Dubinsky said.
He later let on that the hat is more than year old, which means he could be in line for a new one for his birthday. Dubinsky turned 33 on Monday and was hopeful his teammates would be in a giving mood.
"There's a lot of cash in this locker room," he said. "Hopefully they can all pull some money together and buy me something real nice."
