100 Things Bucks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

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Contents

1. The 1971 NBA Championship

2. Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals

3. The Lew Alcindor Coin Flip

4. Herb Kohl Purchases the Bucks

5. The Big Three

6. Wayne Embry

7. Nellie’s Last Game

8. Drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo

9. Retired Jerseys: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s No. 33

10. Retired Jerseys: Oscar Robertson’s No. 1

11. Larry Costello

12. Edens and Lasry Buy the Bucks

13. Retired Jerseys: Sidney Moncrief’s No. 4

14. The Creation of the Bucks

15. Game 6 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals

16. Bucks Finally Beat Sixers

17. The Bradley Center

18. Jim and Jon

19. Redd’s 57-Point Night

20. Jennings’ Double Nickel

21. The Big Dog

22. Allen Hits 10 Threes in One Game

23. Abdul-Jabbar’s Punch

24. Bucks Win 2005 NBA Draft Lottery

25. Bayless’ Buzzer-Beater

26. Kohl Doesn’t Sell to Jordan

27. Bucks in Six

28. Monroe Chooses Milwaukee

29. Jabari Parker’s Journey

30. 24–1

31. Antetokounmpo’s First All-Star Game

32. Dr. J in Milwaukee?

33. Trading for Oscar Robertson

34. The 1974 NBA Finals Disappointment

35. Retired Jerseys: Bob Dandridge’s No. 10

36. The 20-Game Win Streak

37. Retired Jerseys: Jon McGlocklin’s No. 14

38. Squad 6/Clutch Crew

39. Bucks Trade Abdul-Jabbar to L.A.

40. Retired Jerseys: Brian Winters’ No. 32

41. NellieBall

42. Bucks Sweep Bird and the Celtics

43. Bucks and Spurs Combine for 337 Points

44. Terry Cummings

45. Retired Jerseys: Bob Lanier’s No. 16

46. Saving the MECCA Floor

47. Eddie Doucette

48. Don Nelson

49. The Inaugural McDonald’s Open

50. Paul Pressey

51. Alvin Robertson’s Playoff Performance

52. Retired Jerseys: Junior Bridgeman’s No. 2

53. The Ray Allen Trade

54. The 2017 Comeback That Almost Was

55. The Rest of the Big Three Bucks

56. The 2001 Eastern Conference Finals Conspiracy Theory

57. George Karl

58. Robert Indiana’s MECCA Floor

59. Listen to Light It Up!

60. Vin Baker

61. Del Harris

62. Mike Dunleavy

63. The MACC Fund

64. Ricky Pierce

65. Chris Ford

66. Terry Porter

67. Terry Stotts

68. Larry Krystkowiak

69. Marques Johnson

70. The MECCA

71. The Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center

72. Bango

73. Bogut Goes Down

74. Scott Skiles

75. Larry Drew

76. Jason Kidd

77. John Erickson

78. John Hammond

79. The Fear the Deer Court

80. Bucks in the Olympics

81. Shoot a Skyhook

82. Larry Harris

83. Mo Williams’ Game-Winner

84. The Game That Just Wouldn’t End

85. Quinn Buckner

86. Jon Horst

87. Ernie Grunfeld

88. Play as the Bucks in NBA Jam

89. Take a Trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame

90. Alton Lister

91. Get to Know Mike Budenholzer

92. A Stop in Milwaukee for Moses Malone

93. Bango’s Backflip

94. Bob Weinhauer

95. Try the Sikma

96. The 1977 NBA All-Star Game

97. Find an Original Copy of Green and Growing

98. Rep a Deer Jersey

99. Michael Redd and His Jump Shot

100. Test Your Knowledge of Bucks Trivia

Acknowledgments

Sources

1. The 1971 NBA Championship

After a loss to the New York Knicks in Game 5 of the 1970 Eastern Conference Finals, Milwaukee Bucks center and New York City native Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was serenaded by his fellow New Yorkers. As the 22-year-old rookie left the floor, the Madison Square Garden crowd taunted him with a song: Good-bye Lewie, good-bye Lewie, good-bye Lewie, we’re glad to see you go.

Despite a Rookie of the Year season in which he averaged 28.8 points and 14.5 rebounds per game and helped the Bucks win 29 more games than they had in their previous, inaugural season, Alcindor did not leave New York happy. Instead, the singing left him determined to come back in 1971 and triumph over the mighty Knicks. As he left the floor, he told Bucks general manager John Erickson, We’ll be back, Mr. Erickson.

In the off-season, the NBA added three new teams and the Bucks moved to the Western Conference, which meant Alcindor & Co. would have to wait until the NBA Finals to perhaps enact their revenge against the Knicks.

For that to be possible, the Bucks needed to give Alcindor a true running mate and that is exactly what Erickson and Bucks president Ray Patterson set out to do. They didn’t waste any time either, trading for 10-time All-Star and former MVP Oscar Robertson on April 21, 1970, the day after losing to the Knicks.

When I heard that Oscar was coming to play with the Bucks, I was very happy, Abdul-Jabbar later said. I thought that really made it easy for us to win because of his abilities on both ends of the court. Getting to work with him every day really helped me see his greatness.

The only NBA champions in Milwaukee Bucks history: (clockwise) Bob Dandridge (10), Lew Alcindor (33), Greg Smith, Oscar Robertson (1), head coach Larry Costello, and Jon McGlocklin.

Entering his 11th NBA season, Robertson was no longer in his prime as an athlete, but he still represented a massive upgrade for a Bucks team desperately needing more scoring and dynamism from its guards. Since he was feuding with Cincinnati Royals head coach Bob Cousy at the time, Milwaukee only gave up shooting guard Flynn Robinson, coming off a career season, and previous seventh-round pick Charlie Paulk to acquire the 10-year-veteran.

The pairing worked out terrifically. Robertson’s scoring average dipped in Milwaukee, but it wasn’t needed in the same way it was when he was the lead man in Cincinnati. With Alcindor in the middle leading the league in scoring and winning NBA MVP for the first time, Robertson could focus on being a floor general and keeping his teammates involved.

Both Bobby Dandridge and Jon McGlocklin recorded the best shooting percentages of their careers in the 1970–71 season with The Big O at the helm. Erickson acquired a little bench help with a trade for Lucius Allen and Bob Boozer shortly before the season and the Bucks turned into a well-oiled machine running the Triangle offense implemented by head coach Larry Costello. Ultimately, the Bucks put together a 66–16 record, good for the first seed in the Western Conference and a franchise record for wins.

The Western Conference didn’t pose much of a challenge to Milwaukee as the team needed only five games to vanquish each of its conference foes. In the first round, they blew past Nate Thurmond, Jerry Lucas, and the San Francisco Warriors, with a 106–104 loss in Game 4 serving as their only hiccup. Alcindor outplayed Wilt Chamberlain as the Bucks blew past the Los Angeles Lakers—who were without Elgin Baylor and Jerry West due to injuries—in the Western Conference Finals. The Bucks won their four games over the Lakers by an average of 20 points per game.

And with that, the Bucks awaited their rematch with the Knicks—but it never came. The Knicks fell to the Baltimore Bullets in a seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Bucks have not met the Knicks in the playoffs since. But the Bullets paid a price to get through the Knicks, as forward Gus Johnson and guard Earl Monroe got banged up in the series. Each player missed two NBA Finals games, while center Wes Unseld dealt with injuries throughout the playoffs.

A healthy Bullets squad might have made for a tough matchup, but given their injuries they had little chance in this series and the Bucks swept the 1971 NBA Finals. Alcindor was brilliant, posting 27 points, 18.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in the series and adding a Finals MVP to go along with his regular season MVP. Robertson averaged 23.5 points and 9.5 assists per game, while Dandridge added 20 points per game as well. The Bucks were the better team and they simply took care of business.

I joined the Bucks, Robertson later said. I knew we were going to win the championship that year as soon as I got there. Destiny, confidence. I just knew we were going to win.

In just three years, the Bucks went from expansion team to NBA champion and, if you ask those involved, there was never a doubt in their minds.

2. Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals

Oscar Robertson throws to Kareem, described Bucks radio announcer Eddie Doucette. Seven seconds. Finkel. The skyhook is good! Kareem with the big pressure shot!

Abdul-Jabbar’s incredible shot gave the Bucks a 102–101 lead with just three seconds left in double overtime of Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals. It would cap what Bucks forward Jon McGlocklin calls one of the great games in NBA, not just Bucks, history. When taking a closer look at the game, it’s obvious why he would come to such a conclusion.

Trailing 3–2 in the series, the Bucks were forced to fight for their playoff lives with a depleted roster in the Boston Garden. Lucius Allen missed the entirety of the playoffs with a knee injury. A torn calf hampered McGlocklin’s movement throughout the series and a torn groin kept Robertson at less than 100 percent. No one felt too bad for the Bucks, since they had three-time MVP Abdul-Jabbar and the league’s best record going into the series, but those injuries hampered them throughout the series.

Milwaukee led for much of the game, but Boston chipped away at the deficit and eventually Celtics guard John Havlicek hit a jumper to tie the game at 86–86 with just under a minute left in regulation. On the following possession, the Bucks ran a pick and roll with Robertson and Abdul-Jabbar on the right wing late in the shot clock. Celtics center Dave Cowens switched onto Robertson and capably defended for a few seconds before poking the ball away from The Big O with three seconds left on the shot clock. Cowens sprinted after it, dove, and eventually the referees correctly assessed a shot clock violation.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar skyhooks the winning basket against the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals.

The defensive play would lose some of its luster as the game went on, but it was a perfect encapsulation of the entire series—Cowens with a dogged effort defensively, Robertson unable to take advantage of the switch, a possession ending in a turnover for Milwaukee. Neither the Celtics nor the Bucks scored again, with McGlocklin missing a baseline jumper short off the rim, sending the game to overtime.

Both teams struggled to get much of anything going in the first overtime with a combined eight points between the two teams. The Bucks were so out of sorts that Robertson failed to even get a shot attempt up as time expired and the game moved to a second overtime, tied at 90–90.

The first 90 seconds of the second overtime seemed to be following a similar script as fouls, deflections, and missed shots marred the start of the period. A short baseline jumper for Havlicek, plus a free throw to give the Celtics a 93–92 lead, got the action started as the game transitioned from a messy slog to the late rounds of a marquee heavyweight fight with both fighters connecting on haymakers.

Abdul-Jabbar immediately answers with a hook shot. Bucks lead, 94–93.

Havlicek retaliates with a pull-up baseline jumper over the outstretched right arm of the 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar. Celtics lead, 95–94.

Robertson dribbles down the floor on a cleared-out right side and dribbles into a pull-up jumper over Jo Jo White. Bucks lead, 96–95.

Abdul-Jabbar blocks a Havlicek runner. Out of bounds. Havlicek inbounds. White hits a baseline jumper. Celtics lead, 97–96.

Abdul-Jabbar kicks out of a double team to Robertson, who dribbles into a runner as the shot clock expires. Bucks lead, 98–97.

Outlet to Havlicek, who cans a pull-up jumper from the right elbow. Celtics lead, 99–98.

Cowens picks up his sixth foul on an Abdul-Jabbar postup. Boston subsequently forces a shot clock violation.

After the two teams combined for scores on six straight possessions, sometimes on seemingly impossible shots, the Celtics got a stop and shifted the pressure back to the Bucks, who now trailed 99–98 with 1:02 left on the clock and Boston in possession of the ball.

They would need to make a play defensively and that is exactly what Robertson did. Havlicek caught the ball on the right wing after coming around a few screens, but Robertson stayed in front of the All-Star guard, who eventually dribbled the ball off his foot with 44 seconds left. Milwaukee struggled mightily getting the ball up the floor, but eventually Mickey Davis attempted a contested baseline jumper and hit it with 23 seconds left to grab a 100–99 lead for the Bucks.

The Celtics brought the ball up the floor and coach Tommy Heinsohn called for a timeout as nothing developed, but no one could hear him. His team played on and eventually Havlicek got the ball on the right wing as he ran off a baseline screen. He ripped the ball through low and in front of his body to get a slight advantage on Robertson to the baseline. Abdul-Jabbar once again came from the backside to attempt to block his shot and even ended up hitting Havlicek’s right arm with his right arm, but his contest didn’t matter. Havlicek made it for his ninth point of the second overtime period and a 101–100 lead for the Celtics with just seven seconds left.

The Garden erupted and the Bucks immediately called a timeout to draw up a play. With the game on the line, things got a little chaotic on the Bucks’ bench as coach Larry Costello grabbed for his yellow legal pad and started to draw up a play.

Larry was kind of like, frantic, trying to think up a great play, Abdul-Jabbar later told OnMilwaukee.com. And, we just couldn’t figure it out all the way, who was supposed to get free.

As the team broke the huddle, there was mass confusion.

I was a player who always knew what I was supposed to do, McGlocklin told Fox Sports Wisconsin. I knew the plays. I knew my assignments and I did them. So, I’m standing on the free throw line down in front of the Boston bench. Oscar has it out of bounds. Mickey Davis is standing next to me. I said, ‘Mickey, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.’ On Larry’s legal pad, he had me in three different places. Oscar has the ball yelling, ‘Break! Break!’ We don’t know what to do.

Abdul-Jabbar knew what to do: get the ball and score.

The MVP center got position at the elbow and made sure to go to the basketball. He collected it with Hank Finkel on his back a few feet outside of the lane slightly above the right elbow. He pivoted to look for Davis cutting down the middle of the lane and then attacked with a single dribble to the baseline. Finkel stayed on his left hip, forcing him to dribble parallel to the sideline instead of toward the basket. From about 17 feet out Abdul-Jabbar collected the basketball, even with Don Chaney trying to poke it away after chasing him down from Robertson. Planting off his left foot and extending his right arm high, the game’s most dominant player released his patented skyhook and it splashed through the net.

Bucks up 102–101 with three seconds left.

The Celtics would have one last-ditch effort, but White’s jumper was no good and the Bucks had won Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals to force the series back to Milwaukee for a Game 7. It was one of the greatest Finals games ever played and one few would soon forget.

3. The Lew Alcindor Coin Flip

There were no doubts about what was at stake. Phoenix Suns general manager Jerry Colangelo called it a monumental, once-in-a-lifetime flip of a coin. And that’s exactly what it was.

National Basketball Association commissioner J. Walter Kennedy would flip a 1964 Kennedy half-dollar into the air with his right hand, catch it with his right hand, and turn it onto the back of his left hand. The results of the flip would be given to the participating teams over the phone. The winner of the flip would be rewarded with the first pick in the 1969 NBA Draft and the right to draft UCLA Center Lew Alcindor.

The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks would be the two participants in the coin flip by virtue of their records during the 1968–69 season. Both teams were new to the NBA as expansion teams and finished with the worst records in their respective divisions.

The Bucks finished last in the Eastern Division with a 27–55 record, while the Suns finished rounded out the Western Division with a 16–66 record. At the time, in the 14-team NBA, the teams in last place in their respective divisions would participate in a coin flip for the first pick of the draft. With the worst record overall, the Suns were given the right to call heads or tails.

To figure out what to call, the Suns held a poll asking their fans to choose either heads or tails. The poll ended with a majority of fans deciding on heads. Then 29-year-old Suns GM Jerry Colangelo decided to roll with the fans’ decision and called heads.

It was tails.

In Phoenix, devastation. In Milwaukee, elation.

Wes Pavalon, principal owner of the Bucks, and John Erickson, Bucks vice-president and general manager, were listening to the call together and celebrated the moment they heard that they had won the first pick. In the excitement, Pavalon actually burned his colleague with a lit cigarette he accidentally jammed into Erickson’s right ear.

It stung a little, but I didn’t notice it, Erickson told Sports Illustrated. I didn’t care, once we had Lew.

Their excitement was totally justified. Alcindor was a once-in-a-lifetime talent. At UCLA, he was changing the game under coach John Wooden—literally. In 1967, the NCAA outlawed the slam dunk and many suggested Alcindor was the reason the rule was added. Some even went as far as calling it the Alcindor Rule.

In his three-year career at UCLA, the Bruins lost just twice in 90 games and won the national championship in each season. Alcindor was named the NCAA’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player each of the three years, a feat that has yet to be matched. And, in his final year, he was awarded the first Naismith Trophy, an award given annually to the nation’s top player. Like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell before him, Alcindor was an insanely athletic 7-footer with fluidity and rhythm incredibly rare in players so tall.

He may be the first of the 7-foot backcourt men, Bucks guard Fred Crawford told Sports Illustrated during Alcindor’s first year in Milwaukee. He can dribble and make moves that no big man ever made before. Russell could dribble straight down the floor, but Lew can bring the ball down and handle it and give you fakes, and no one his size could ever do that.

With such prodigious talent, Alcindor’s skills were in high demand around the world and the other professional basketball league in the United States, the American Basketball Association (ABA), posed a real threat to the Bucks. The organization had won the first pick of the NBA Draft, but Alcindor had previously expressed a preference to play in Los Angeles or New York.

The ABA’s New York Nets could have posed a problem as they would have had the money to pay Alcindor more than the Bucks and they could help place him in New York, but the fledgling NBA could not allow him to go to a different league. To make sure Alcindor would sign with the Bucks, the NBA’s 14 team owners banded together and helped the Bucks put together a five-year, $1.4 million deal, the largest amount ever offered a player at the time.

It was enough. They outbid the ABA and secured the rights to a franchise-changing and league-altering rookie. They had signed Lew Alcindor, and nothing would ever be the same in Milwaukee.

For the record, the Suns’ consolation prize was Neal Walk, a center from the University of Florida. He played five seasons in Phoenix, averaging 14.7 points per game.

4. Herb Kohl Purchases the Bucks

We want very much for someone in Milwaukee to buy the Bucks, because we feel this is where they belong, Bucks principal owner Jim Fitzgerald said at the news conference announcing his decision to put the team up for sale on February 5, 1985.

Despite Fitzgerald’s wishes, he was in a tough spot with the team. They were in one of the NBA’s smallest markets. They played in the league’s smallest arena, the Milwaukee Arena, which seated only 11,052 fans. To counteract each of those facts and create more revenue, the Bucks created Sportsvue Cable Network, a pay-television venture the team operated with the Milwaukee Brewers and several other teams, but it didn’t work out and ended up losing money as well.

With all of that in play, it would have been easy to understand if Fitzgerald, a Janesville, Wisconsin, native, sold the team to someone who might be interested in finding a more viable location for a team to thrive. Or if he simply couldn’t find someone who was willing to keep the team in Milwaukee, a market rife with potential pitfalls for an NBA team.

Fitzgerald, however, would quickly learn there was at least one other person as committed as he was to keeping the team in Milwaukee: Herb Kohl.

Kohl, a local businessman, tried to get a team in Milwaukee before the Bucks existed. In 1967, the American Basketball Association searched across the nation for new markets and a group led by Kohl expressed interest, but ultimately couldn’t get everything together fast enough for the league. In December of 1967, a Kohl-led group formally applied for an NBA expansion franchise, but when the league announced Milwaukee would be awarded a franchise, it was given to Marvin Fishman and Wes Pavalon’s group.

I called Walter Kennedy, the commissioner, and went to see him in New York, Kohl later told OnMilwaukee.com. He said they were going to expand and Milwaukee would be a good place. I came home and cleared dates at the old Arena and met with the expansion committee. Then Kennedy called me and said they were going to award a franchise. He said I could have it but if I didn’t want it there was another group, Pavalon’s group, and the NBA was fine with them. I was very busy at Kohl’s and my dad, he didn’t think a basketball team was the way for his son to be in business. So I said no and the rest is history.

When the opportunity came back around in 1985, Kohl’s situation had changed. He came to be president of Kohl’s, a chain of family-owned grocery stores, department stores, and pharmacies, and eventually sold the business. With the necessary assets to purchase the team, the interest in owning an NBA team, and the time needed to properly serve a team with a complicated future, Kohl stepped up and purchased the team for $18 million.

According to Kohl, Fitzgerald could have received as much as $7 million more for the franchise, but turned down those offers to sell to someone committed to Milwaukee. In his introductory press conference as owner, Kohl made his commitment to the city and state abundantly clear.

We couldn’t afford to lose them, Kohl told the Milwaukee Journal. Psychologically and economically, it would have been a disaster. Fitz [Fitzgerald] knew that, and I didn’t think he would sell to outside interests. He wanted to maximize the value to a buyer in Milwaukee, but I knew he would sell for less to a Milwaukee person or group than somebody from outside.

Owning an NBA team in Milwaukee surely fulfilled a dream for Kohl, but it was just the beginning of an uphill struggle. The team would need to find a way to become more viable and that started with a new arena. It may have just been excitement over buying the franchise, but Kohl was convinced Milwaukee would get a new arena.

I feel now that we can get something done, Kohl said. I’d bet on it. Things should move forward now on their own momentum.

A few days after purchasing the team, Milwaukee natives Jane and Lloyd Pettit notified him they would donate $90 million toward the construction of a brand-new downtown arena. Maybe it was fate. Maybe it was the power of positive thinking. One thing was for sure, though: Herb Kohl would keep the Bucks in Milwaukee.

5. The Big Three

The nickname has been commandeered by many trios over the years, but the Big Three in Milwaukee can only refer to three guys: Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson.

Each player had a unique journey to Milwaukee and during the years after they left, but all three shared three special seasons together playing the best