In the 1968-69 season, the Milwaukee Bucks came into existence. They could’ve not asked for a better start because after a terrible first season the Milwaukee Bucks got the 1st pick in the 69-70 draft. With that pick they drafted one of the best college players of all time, Lew Alcindor or better known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareem is one of the greatest NBA Players of all time.
With Kareem success came easy, in his first season his team went from 27 to 56 wins. They also made it to the Eastern Division Finals in his rookie campaign. Everything from there on out looked amazing for Milwaukee in the coming years.
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When Was the Last Time the Milwaukee Bucks Won an NBA Title?
In just Kareem’s second NBA season and Milwaukee‘s 3rd, they finished with a 66-16 record. They had made a big off season move by signing the OG triple double machine Oscar Robertson. Milwaukee were first in NBA in offensive, defensive and Net rating. A 23 year old Kareem was averaging 31 points.
In the NBA Playoffs, they beat the San Francisco Warriors in 5 games, the Lakers with an old Elgin, Wilt and Jerry in also 5 games. And in the NBA Finals they went on to sweep the Baltimore Bullets and won their first NBA title in just 3 years of their existence. They were the 1970-71 NBA Champions. Kareem Abdul Jabbar was going to be a mega superstar and the Bucks could not be happier.
Did the Milwaukee Bucks Get Close to Winning Any More NBA Titles?
The Milwaukee Bucks did not repeat. In fact they underperformed by their standards in the next 2 postseasons. However, in the 1973-74 season the Bucks beat the Lakers in 5, swept Bulls and were back in the NBA finals. They played the Boston Celtics. That series was one of the best ones. The series went to all 7 games. Game 2 went to OT and Game 6 went 2OT. However, they lost that Game 7 and therefore the NBA title.
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That was the last time the franchise made the NBA finals. Kareem left the team to join the Los Angeles Lakers and become even more decorated as an NBA player. After that the franchise went into a bit of mediocrity with some surges of excellence.
What Were the Other Notable Post Season Runs?
After Kareem left, there were 3 era’s in the Bucks history.
The first era was the Sidney Moncrief era. It started in the early 80’s. All their season were 50+ wins. The Bucks made the Conference finals 3 times with that roster but never were able to take that next step. A good team and a strong contender but nothing that came to fruition.
The next era was the Ray Allen era. It was the worst of the 3 but had some decent success. Ray Allen who came from that amazing 1996 NBA draft class, was not successful straight out the gate. 2 NBA seasons where the missed the NBA playoffs and the next 2 were they lost in the first round.
In the 2000-01 season however, the won 52 games. The big 3 of Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell really started to click. They Made the Easter Conference finals and faced off against the MVP Allen Iverson. They lost that series in 7 games and gave it all they had but AI was just too good.
After that, for the next 17 season, they made alternate playoff first round exits and no playoffs at all. They were the definition of mediocrity.
But what’s better than having one Kareem level talent in your franchise history? Having 2 of them.
The Milwaukee Bucks drafted a Greek Demi God who at times is just as unguardable as Kareem was.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo Era
Giannis is in just his 8th season and is already a MIP, DPOY and 2 time NBA MVP. He’s also made 5 All-star and All-NBA teams and 4 All-defensive teams. But those are just personal and regular season honors. His Playoff success is what hurt his credibility the most. However, he’s still just entering his prime.
He made the conference finals once prior to this season. But this year is where he looks like he has the best chance to win a title. He beat the reigning conference champions in 4 games and beat the almighty Nets in 7. In Game 2 vs the Hawks he has had the most dominating performance we have seen from him. Giannis is going to cement himself next to Kareem as the greatest player in a Bucks Uniform.
The Milwaukee Bucks are 3 Wins away from Making the NBA finals for the first time in nearly 50 years. Will they win that 2020-21 NBA Title?
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