Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks joined the National Basketball Association in 1968. In their first season they struggled to only 27 wins. That is the case with new expansion teams, and they take a few seasons to develop into legitimate teams.
Although the Bucks struggled in their first season, they bucked the trend in their second season behind the play of Lew Alcindor who would later convert to Islam and change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In their second season in the league, the Bucks improved 29 games to finish with a 56-26 record. That was good enough to finish with the second best record in the league in only their second year as a franchise.
Present logo of the Milwaukee Bucks
In their third season in the league, the Bucks improved even more when they acquired Oscar Robertson whose nickname is “The Big O.” With the two star players on their team the Bucks improved another ten games to finish with a 66-16 record which was the second best record in league history at the time. All this happened in their third season in the league.
In season three, the Bucks would not just settle for the second best record ever, they would go on to win the NBA championship by beating the Baltimore Bullets in a four game sweep. The Bucks only lost two games in the entire playoffs in which they won 12 to win the title.
Sadly for the Bucks, the franchise peaked in their third year in the league forty years ago. They have never won another championship. After their first championship, they continued to be a powerhouse team behind “The Big O.” and Abdul-Jabbar. Under their phenomenal play, the Bucks would make it to the semi-finals and again to the NBA Finals. They lost their second Finals appearance to the Boston Celtics two years after they won their only title. They have not been back to the Finals since then.
Despite the trade of Abdul-Jabbar, the Bucks managed to stay on the map for the next two decades. They would not advance to the Finals, but they were a perennial playoff team during until the 90′s. A large part of their success can be attributed to Don Nelson as their coach. He held the team together and put them in position to win. Don Nelson has the most wins by a coach in NBA history, and a large number of those wins came when he was coaching the Bucks.
In the 90′s after Nelson had resigned as coach, the Bucks finally fell from being a consistent playoff team. They went into rebuilding mode which would take up most of the 90′s.
The late 90′s were the years in which the Bucks finally made it out of the free fall they had taken as a franchise. In their rebuilding they were able to draft and trade for Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson, and Ray Allen. Behind their play, the Bucks were able to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in as long as their fans could remember. They lost that series to the Philadelphia 76ers.
After some turmoil between some of the players, which resulted from a new player destroying team unity, Cassell, Robinson, and Allen were all traded and their coach George Karl left after he had led them back to a winning record.
Since these things happened in 2003, the Bucks have been in and out of the playoffs. They have not been a dominant force or a serious title contender, but they have not been a bottom dweller in the league.
This current Bucks team relies on their point guard Brandon Jennings. He has the potential to develop into a star, but his inconsistencies leave him as a good player. In a trade before the trade deadline, the Bucks traded their often hurt but very good center Andrew Bogut for the large scoring threat combo guard Monta Ellis and up and coming player Ekpe Udoh. The Bucks are currently one spot out of the playoffs as the ninth best team in the Eastern Conference. They are competing with the Knicks and the Celtics for the final playoff spot in the East.