One of the many upsides of the Bucks' promising start: The national media is taking notice, which means more and more interesting stories coming to light about how the franchise works and how its key decision-makers view the world. The latest bearer of interesting news is Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, who like Grantland's Zach Lowe was in Milwaukee last week and delivered a fascinating read on the Bucks' makeover this week. Among the key takeaways:

Hammond, Kidd, etc. So how is Jason Kidd fitting in with the front office? Well, Marc Lasry is pretty open about the partnership mindset he expects of GM John Hammond and Kidd. Lasry compares it to his relationship with fellow co-owner Wes Edens, while also suggesting that ownership would serve as the tie-breaker if Kidd and Hammond were to disagree on a major move.

"I'm not a big believer that one person should make the decision. It should be collaborative. Wes and I, the way we do our partnership is if we don't agree, we can't do it. If Wes can't convince me he's right or if I can't convince Wes, we make a decision by not doing anything. It's the same way here. When people know that, they know you need to work together as a team."

Corporate tickets. Team president Peter Feigin has made no bones about the Bucks' over-reliance on individual season ticketholders, a point that Lasry reiterates when discussing his job of selling local businesses on the idea of tickets.

"I hear back, ‘As soon as the team gets going, we'll get involved.' So I say to them, ‘Who here has kids? Do you tell your son that you are not going to watch the game until they get good? No, you go.' Our players want to see people here. If they feel like they have the support, they play harder. The more support you have, the more you feel part of the community. We have an obligation to support the team, to invest in the future. We are going to try to do our best and we would like everyone else to participate."

Buying into the NBA. Mannix's piece also has some good insight from Edens on how he convinced Lasry to join him in bidding for the Bucks, as well as some encouraging (though not new) comments from Edens about having no interest in being "that guy" who moves a team. Oh, and don't forget some fightin' words about the Bucks' long-term ambitions.

"We're going to win a championship. Anyone who wants to make excuses that we are not in a big market should just leave now. We don't want you in the organization."

We're nodding, Wes.