History of the Milwaukee Bucks

70s - Hitting the Jackpot

The Bucks franchise began in 1968 and right off the bat, they hit the jackpot. In their first offseason they draft Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the first overall pick. He immediately makes an impact averaging 29 points and 15 rebounds while taking them to the Eastern Conference Finals. Just the next year they acquired Oscar Robertson, won an NBA title, and broke the regular season record for wins with 66. Kareem later wanted to be traded ending their days of title contention.

80s - Defensive Dominance

The Bucks in the 80s were a consistently great team. They were one of the most feared defenses with Defensive Player of the Year winner, Sidney Moncrief, in their backcourt. The team made the playoffs every year but could never make it to the NBA finals. They lost in the conference finals three times to the 76ers and the Celtics twice.

90s - First Drought

There weren’t many bright spots in the 90s for the Bucks. They had never missed the playoffs in back to back years in franchise history until then when they had a seven year drought. The Bucks broke that streak after drafting Ray Allen who ended up being the greatest shooter of the 2000s.

00s - Short Lived Success

Their best season since the mid 80s came in 2001 when they made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals where they fell short to the Nets. In the 2003 season, the Bucks traded Ray Allen for an aging Gary Payton which began their downward trajectory back into fighting for a playoff spot.

10s - Bright Future

In 2013 the Bucks decide to take a chance on Giannis Antetkounmpo, an athletic but unpolished 19 year old from Greece. They also trade for Khris Middleton who just finished his rookie year, and together they developed into one of the best NBA duos. The furthest they got was the conference finals, but a bright future was ahead.