Milwaukee Bucks - Definition and Overview

The Milwaukee Bucks are a National Basketball Association team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The current franchise owner is U.S. Senator Herb Kohl.

Founded: 1968

Formerly known as:

Home Arena: Bradley Center

Uniform colors: Purple green and silver

Logo design: The head and shoulders of an eight-point white-tail buck on a triangular background atop stylized "Milwaukee Bucks" lettering

NBA Championships: 1972

Current Coach: Terry Porter

Franchise history

The Milwaukee Bucks were formed in Janurary, 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. On April 30, 1971, the Bucks win Game 4 of the NBA Finals over the Baltimore Bullets in Milwaukee 118-106, to win the NBA Championship. The championship was won faster than by any other expansion team in professional sports history (3rd season). In 1972, the Los Angeles Lakers have their record 33-game winning steak snapped by the Bucks during a nationally televised game, and in 1973 the Bucks record their third consecutive 60-win season, the first NBA team to do so.

In 1985, Milwaukee businessman (and now U.S. Senator) Herb Kohl buys the Bucks after fears that out-of-town investors could buy the team and move it out of Milwaukee. In 2003, after considering selling the team, Kohl announces that he has decided against selling the Bucks to Michael Jordan and would "continue to own them, improve them and commit them to remaining in Wisconsin."

Players of note

Basketball Hall of Famers:

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Dave Cowens
• Wayne Embry (Inducted as a contributor; see Coaches and others section for more details.)
• Alex English
• Bob Lanier
• Oscar Robertson

Not to be forgotten:

• Ray Allen
• Vin Baker
• Marty Conlon
• Adrian Dantley
• Todd Day
• Gary Payton
• Glenn Robinson

Retired numbers:

• 1 Oscar Robertson
• 2 Junior Bridgeman
• 4 Sidney Moncrief
• 14 Jon McGlocklin
• 16 Bob Lanier
• 32 Brian Winters
• 33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Current stars:

• TJ Ford
• Dan Gadzuric
• Toni Kukoc
• Desmond Mason
• Michael Redd
• Joe Smith
• Keith Van Horn

Coaches and others:

Coaches:

• Don Nelson
• Mike Dunleavy
• George Karl
• Terry Porter

Basketball Hall of Famers:

• Wayne Embry (Former general manager; inducted as a contributor. When he became GM of the Bucks in 1971, he was the first African-American to serve in that position in the NBA. He would later go on to be the NBA's first African-American team president with the Cleveland Cavaliers.)
• K. C. Jones (Former assistant; inducted for his playing career with the Boston Celtics.)

External links

• Milwaukee Bucks official web site (http://www.nba.com/bucks/)
• Official Milwaukee Bucks Summer Pro League practice web site (http://www.summerproleague.com/)