- 1968
- 1968
- 1971
- 1975
- 2015
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Milwaukee Bucks Team Formation
The Milwaukee Bucks were formed in January 1968 when the NBA awarded a franchise to Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. (Milwaukee Pro), a group headed by Wesley Pavilion and Marvin Fishman. In October, the Bucks played their first NBA regular-season game against the Chicago Bulls before a Milwaukee Arena crowd of 8,467. As is typical with expansion teams, the ... -
Coin Flip for Lew Alcindor
The Bucks’ record that year earned them a coin flip against their expansion brethren, the Phoenix Suns, to see who would get the first pick in the upcoming draft. It was a foregone conclusion that the first pick in the draft would be Lew Alcindor of UCLA. The Bucks won the coin flip but had to win a bidding war ... -
NBA Finals Winner 1971
NBA Finals – 1971 The following season, the Bucks got an unexpected gift when they acquired Oscar Robertson, known as the “Big O”, in a trade with the Cincinnati Royals. Subsequently, in only their third season, the Bucks finished 66–16—the second-most wins in NBA history at the time, and still the most in franchise history. During the regular season, the ... -
Abdul-Jabbar Trade
When the season ended, Abdul-Jabbar made the stunning announcement that he no longer wished to play for the Bucks, stating that he needed the big city, requesting a trade to either Los Angeles or New York. The front office was unable to convince him otherwise and on June 16, 1975, the Bucks pulled a mega-trade by sending Abdul-Jabbar to the ... -
Arena and City is Up in the Air
On July 6, 2015, Bucks president Peter Feigin stated if public funding for a new arena falls through, the NBA may buy the team and move it to Las Vegas or Seattle. The latter city could be the frontrunner, as the city had a proven fanbase with the Seattle SuperSonics (a name the Bucks would more than likely pick up ...
History of the Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball franchise based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team and played at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Former U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, with John Hammond as current general manager; as of April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the owners of the NBA and its Board of Governors a month later on May 16. The team is currently valued at $675 million according to Forbes, ranking second-to-last in the league.
Established
1968
City
Milwaukee
League History
1968 - Present / National Basketball Association
Team History
1968 – Present / Milwaukee Bucks
Nickname
Bucks – This team’s nickname was chosen from more than 14,000 contest entries, and the winner was R.D. Treblicox of Whitefish Bay, Wis. His choice of Bucks for the club that entered the NBA in 1968 won him a new car.
Despite Wisconsin’s hunting tradition, the most popular entry in the contest to name Milwaukee’s NBA franchise wasn’t Bucks. It was Robins. The judges overruled the public and decided on a more indigenous (and much stronger) name. The choice could have been much worse: Skunks was among the other entries.
Contest judges chose a name that reflected the fish and game area “because it is indigenous to Wisconsin,” said then-General Manager John Erickson. Given the hunting tradition in Wisconsin, they saw bucks as being spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile.
“The predominance of bucks led us to the name.”
Championship
NBA Championships 2
2021, 1971
Arena
2019 - Present / Fiserv Forum
2012 – 2018 / BMO Harris Bradley Center
1988 – 2012 / Bradley Center
1968 – 1988 / Milwaukee Arena
Owner
2014 – Present / Wesley Edens & Marc Lasry
1985 – 2014 / U.S. Senator Herb Kohl
1976 – 1985 / Jim Fitzgerald
1968 – 1976 / Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc.
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
Retired Number
1 / Oscar Robertson
2 / Junior Bridgeman
4 / Sidney Moncrief
8 / Marques Johnson
10 / Bob Dandridge
14 / Jon McGlocklin
16 / Bob Lanier
32 / Brian Winters
33 / Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
*Blue is this team’s history