A Look Back at When the Milwaukee Bucks Won the NBA Championship

The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship in 1971, led by Finals MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Take a look back at that historic season.

The Early Days

It was 1971 when the Milwaukee Bucks won their only NBA Championship. The team was led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was in his second season with the team. The Bucks also had Oscar Robertson, who was in his final season in the NBA. The team finished the regular season with a record of 66-16, which was the best record in the NBA.

The team’s founding

On January 22, 1968, the NBA awarded an expansion franchise to Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc., a group headed by Wesley Pavalon and Marvin Fishman. A contest was held to name the new team, with over 40,000 fans participating. While the most-voted fan entry was “Robins”, after Wisconsin’s state bird, the contest judges went with “Bucks”, based on deer hunting being a major pastime in Wisconsin.

The team’s early years

The Milwaukee Bucks franchise was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and first took the court in the fall of that year. The following season, the Bucks made the playoffs for the first time behind the play of rookie sensation Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (later known as Lew Alcindor), who was named Rookie of the Year. The team’s fortunes quickly turned around, as they won their division title in 1971 and made it all the way to the NBA Finals that year, losing to the eventual champion Baltimore Bullets in five games.

The Bucks experienced more success in the 1974-75 season, as they won 60 games and made it back to the NBA Finals. This time, they were able to defeat the Golden State Warriors in six games behind a strong performance from Abdul-Jabbar, who was named Finals MVP. The Bucks would make it back to the playoffs every year for the rest of Abdul-Jabbar’s tenure with the team, but they were never able to win another NBA Championship.

The Championship Years

The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bucks are the only team in Wisconsin and one of only eight from the Midwest. They are also one of only two NBA teams (the other being the Atlanta Hawks) that play their home games in a city with a population of under one million people.

The team’s first championship

In 1971, the Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA championship. The team was led by future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. The Bucks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, before going on to beat the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals. This was a monumental achievement for the franchise, and it solidified their place as one of the NBA’s premier teams.

The following season, the Bucks were once again one of the league’s best teams. They would go on to win a second consecutive NBA title, this time defeating the New York Knicks in the Finals. This marked the first time in NBA history that a team had won back-to-back championships. The Bucks were now a dynasty, and they would go on to dominate the league for years to come.

The team’s second championship

It was in 1971 when the Milwaukee Bucks won their second NBA Championship. Led by then-head coach Larry Costello, the team had an impressive season, finishing with a 60-22 record. The Bucks then went on to defeat the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals, winning the series 4-0.

The team’s success continued into the 1972 season, as they once again finished with a 60-22 record. However, they were unable to repeat as champions, losing to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.

The next few years would see the Bucks struggle, as they failed to make it back to the NBA Finals. However, they would return to prominence in 1979, when they drafted future Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. With Abdul-Jabbar leading the way, the Bucks would go on to win their third NBA Championship in 1971.

The Post-Championship Years

It has been almost 50 years since the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship. The team has gone through some ups and downs in the intervening years, but they have always had a loyal fan base. Let’s take a look back at the post-championship years.

The team’s decline

The Milwaukee Bucks entered the 1970s as the reigning NBA champions, but the team’s fortunes quickly took a turn for the worse. A series of bad Draft picks, injuries, and retirements left the team without many of its key players from the championship years. The Bucks struggled to stay competitive, finishing with a losing record in six of their first seven seasons after winning the title.

It wasn’t until the 1979 Draft that the Bucks were able to add a young star who could help them get back to contender status. That player was Sidney Moncrief, who would go on to be one of the best players in franchise history. Moncrief helped lead the Bucks to eight consecutive playoff appearances from 1980 to 1987, but they were never able to get past the Eastern Conference Finals.

In 1988, star forward Larry Bird led the Boston Celtics to a sweep of the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. It would be Bird’s last season with the Celtics, and he would retire following that year’s NBA Finals. The Celtics would go on to win the championship, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

The following season, 1989, would see another early exit from the playoffs for the Bucks. This time they were swept by eventual champion Detroit Pistons in the first round. It would be one of only two trips to the postseason for Milwaukee over their next eight seasons.

The team’s rebuilding

After the team’s initial success, they began to rebuild in an attempt to improve their chances of winning another title. This process took a few years, but eventually, the team was able to put together a squad that was once again competitive.

The team’s rebuilding efforts were largely successful, and they were able to win another NBA Championship in 1971. The team’s dynasty had come to an end, but they remained a force to be reckoned with in the years that followed.

The team continued to be competitive in the years after their second title win, but they were unable to reclaim their place at the top of the NBA. In 1974, the team was sold to new owners, and this signaled the beginning of a new era for the franchise.

The Return to Prominence

It’s been 50 years since the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA Championship. A lot has changed since then. The team has gone through some ups and downs, but they are once again one of the best teams in the NBA. Let’s take a look back at the history of the team and how they got to where they are today.

The team’s resurgence

It had been four years since the team’s last appearance in the playoffs. The Bucks were in danger of missing the postseason for a third consecutive season. But then, led by superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks turned things around. They won 60 games and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, they dispatched of the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, and Toronto Raptors. They then faced off against the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. The Warriors had won three of the last four championships, but they were no match for the Bucks. Led by Antetokounmpo’s stellar play, Milwaukee won the series in six games to claim their first NBA championship since 1971.

The team’s return to the playoffs

It had been a long time since the Milwaukee Bucks had been relevant in the NBA. For almost a decade, the team toiled in mediocrity, never winning more than 41 games in a season. But then, in the summer of 2018, everything changed.

The Bucks brought in a new head coach, Mike Budenholzer, and drafted a player who would eventually become an All-Star, Giannis Antetokounmpo. With this new foundation in place, the Bucks began to turn things around.

In the 2018-19 season, the Bucks won 60 games, their most since 1981. They also made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the eventual champions, the Toronto Raptors.

Despite this disappointing end to the season, there was still reason for optimism heading into the next year. And that optimism was well-founded, as the Bucks went on to win their first NBA championship in 50 years.

It was a historic season for the team, and one that will be remembered fondly by fans for years to come.