Milwaukee Bucks Team History

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 Pavalon 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 Bucks’ first season, 1968 – 1969, was a struggle. Their first victory came in their sixth game as the Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons 134–118; they won only 26 more games in their first year.

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 with the upstart American Basketball Association to secure him.

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 Bucks recorded a then-NBA record 20-game win streak. They then steamrolled through the playoffs with a dominating 12–2 record, winning the NBA Championship on April 30, 1971, by sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in four games. By winning it all in only their third season, the Bucks became the fastest expansion team in NBA history to win the championship, however four decades later, it remains the only title in club history.

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 Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and David Meyers. The trade triggered a series of events that led to a change in the team’s ownership. Jim Fitzgerald, the Bucks largest stockholder, opposed the trade and wanted to sell his stock. Although Fitzgerald was the largest stockholder, he didn’t own enough stock to control the team.

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 with a move to the city), and the NBA only needs a $25 million profit to buy the Bucks and move them to one of the two aforementioned cities. Current Bucks owners Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan combined with Herb Kohl to pledge $250 million for the new arena and are seeking a match from the public. Of those funds, $93 million would come from the Wisconsin Center District in the form of new debt on Milwaukee citizens. The district wouldn’t commence repaying the bonds until 13 years thereafter.