50 Fun Facts About Milwaukee Bucks

Which team left Milwaukee for St. Louis in 1955, 13 years before the Bucks arrived?

Hawks. They finished last in their division in all four of their Milwaukee seasons, yet within three years of the move to St. Louis they were NBA champions.

Which name, shared with Wisconsin's state bird, topped the 1968 fan vote before judges chose Bucks instead?

Robins. Bucks was only the fans' second choice, but the judges overruled the vote and rewarded a fan who argued that bucks are "spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile".

In 1972 the Bucks made Wayne Embry the first Black person in major US pro sports to hold which job?

General manager. Embry had been the Bucks' centre in their first season, and three years into the job it fell to him to trade away Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had asked to leave.

Which team did the Bucks beat in a 1969 coin flip for the right to draft Lew Alcindor?

Phoenix Suns. Milwaukee had won 11 more games than its fellow expansion team, but each finished last in its division, so a coin toss decided who got Alcindor; Phoenix settled for Neal Walk.

Which eventual champion knocked Lew Alcindor's 56-win Bucks out of the 1970 playoffs?

New York Knicks. Alcindor's rookie season had lifted Milwaukee from 27 wins to 56, and the Bucks answered the defeat by trading for a veteran star guard; a year later they were champions.

Which guard did the Bucks acquire from the Cincinnati Royals before their 1970-71 championship season?

Oscar Robertson. The Big O had spent ten seasons in Cincinnati without a title, then won one in his first year in Milwaukee, the only championship of his career.

Whom did the Bucks sweep in the 1971 NBA Finals for their first title?

Baltimore Bullets. They had just knocked out the defending champions in a series that went the distance, but Milwaukee swept them to take the title in only the franchise's third season.

Which team's record 33-game winning streak did the Bucks end in January 1972?

Lakers. Their run had swept past the 20 straight wins Milwaukee strung together a year earlier in its 66-16 title season, so the Bucks stopped the streak that had outdone their own.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's sky hook won the Bucks game six of the 1974 Finals in double overtime against which team?

Boston Celtics. The shot forced a seventh game in Milwaukee, but Boston won it by 15, and the Bucks did not reach another Finals for 47 years.

The Bucks' refusal to play a 2020 playoff game followed a police shooting in which Wisconsin city?

Kenosha, where police had shot Jacob Blake three days earlier. The Bucks stayed in their locker room, and within hours games in the NBA, WNBA, baseball and MLS were called off.

Which former Buck built a fortune as a Wendy's franchisee and bought a stake in the team in 2024?

Junior Bridgeman. He came to Milwaukee in the 1975 trade for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, spent his off-seasons working at Wendy's to learn the business, and went on to own hundreds of restaurants.

Who became Bucks head coach in November 1976 after Larry Costello abruptly resigned?

Don Nelson. He had won his fifth title as a player only that spring and was 18 games into his first job, as a Bucks assistant, when a 3-15 start handed him the team for the next 11 seasons.

Which former Bucks All-Star later played Raymond in the film White Men Can't Jump?

Marques Johnson. Acting was his first love: he studied theatre at UCLA before the Bucks drafted him third in 1977, and on screen he is the hothead who loses to Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.

Which pop artist painted the Bucks' MECCA court, which debuted at the Milwaukee Arena in 1977?

Robert Indiana, creator of the LOVE image, covered the floor in giant M's. The Bucks left it behind in 1988, and a fan who later found it being sold for scrap went into credit card debt to save it.

Which Bucks broadcaster's call of "Bango!" for long-range baskets became the name of the team's mascot?

Eddie Doucette, the Bucks' radio voice for their first 16 seasons, shouted it whenever a long shot dropped. He also gave Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's signature shot its name, the skyhook.

Which Bucks mainstay arrived in 2013 as a minor piece of the Brandon Jennings trade with Detroit?

Khris Middleton. A second-round pick who had played only 27 games for Detroit, he stayed in Milwaukee for more than a decade and became a three-time All-Star and an NBA champion.

What injury did Bucks mascot Bango suffer when a stunt at an NBA All-Star Weekend went wrong?

A torn ACL. Bango needed surgery after the fall but made a full recovery, and went back to his riskiest tricks, such as dunking off the top of a ladder during the playoffs.

Which former US senator was the Bucks' long-time owner until 2014?

Herb Kohl paid $18 million for the Bucks in 1985 to stop them leaving Milwaukee. When he sold them for $550 million, he gave $100 million of it toward a new arena.

In 2003 the Bucks' owner came close to selling the team to which NBA legend?

Michael Jordan. The owner backed out, saying he would keep the team in Wisconsin, and held on for 11 more years; Jordan went on to buy into Charlotte's franchise instead.

Whom did the Bucks take with the first overall pick in the 1994 draft?

Glenn Robinson. The "Big Dog" held out amid talk of a $100 million demand, then signed for a rookie-record $68 million over 10 years; the NBA brought in a rookie wage scale the following year.

Where did Ray Allen play college basketball before the Bucks acquired him on draft day in 1996?

Connecticut. Minnesota drafted him fifth and at once traded him to Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury; two years later, as a Buck, he starred as Jesus Shuttlesworth in Spike Lee's He Got Game.

Whom did the Bucks take first overall in the 2005 draft, ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams?

Andrew Bogut. The Bucks traded the Australian centre to Golden State in 2012 while an ankle injury kept him out, and three years later he was an All-Defensive pick on a Warriors team that won the title.

Which two players did the Bucks receive from Seattle for Ray Allen in 2003?

Gary Payton and Desmond Mason. Payton played only 28 games for Milwaukee before leaving as a free agent, while Allen went on to win two championships elsewhere.

Which slogan became the Bucks' rallying cry in the 2010 playoffs?

Fear the Deer. The Bucks already had an official slogan that season, "Work Hard, Play Hard"; this one came from outside, and at the time the team could not say if an ESPN anchor, its Squad 6 fans or a tweet began it.

Giannis Antetokounmpo went 15th in the 2013 draft; who went first overall?

Anthony Bennett. Cleveland's surprise choice lasted only four NBA seasons and averaged 4.4 points a game, while the player taken 14 places later won two MVP awards and a title.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was born in Athens to parents from which country?

Nigeria. His parents had no legal status in Greece, so Giannis grew up stateless, selling watches and sunglasses on the streets of Athens, and gained Greek citizenship only around the time of the 2013 draft.

In 2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo won MVP alongside which other award?

Defensive Player of the Year. That double had been done only twice before, in 1988 and 1994, yet the Bucks, owners of the NBA's best record, were knocked out in the second round that year.

Whose coaching rights did the Bucks acquire from Brooklyn in July 2014 for two second-round picks?

Jason Kidd. He had been a head coach for a single season, and reports said he opened talks with Milwaukee after his old club refused him more power, while the Bucks still had Larry Drew under contract.

Which former Atlanta coach did the Bucks hire in May 2018?

Mike Budenholzer was Coach of the Year in his first Milwaukee season and delivered the 2021 title, yet the Bucks fired him in 2023 after a 58-win team lost in the first round.

Whose late steal and alley-oop pass sealed game five of the 2021 Finals?

Jrue Holiday. With Milwaukee one point up and 16 seconds left, he ripped the ball from Devin Booker and lobbed it to Giannis for a dunk; the Bucks became only the fifth team to win a Finals from 2-0 down.

Giannis Antetokounmpo's 50-point 2021 title clincher leaned on which shot, his postseason weakness?

Free throws. Opposing crowds had counted out loud through his slow routine at the line, and three nights earlier he had made only 4 of 11; on the night that won the title he made 17 of 19.

Which Big Three team did the Bucks beat in seven games in the 2021 conference semifinals?

Brooklyn Nets. Game seven went to overtime only because Kevin Durant's foot was on the three-point line when he hit what looked like the winning shot with a second left; Milwaukee then won 115-111.

Which expansion team's arrival in 1980 led the NBA to move the Bucks from the Western Conference to the East?

Dallas Mavericks. To fit the new team into the West, the league shifted Milwaukee and Chicago east, which is why the Bucks own titles from both conferences: 1971 from the West and 2021 from the East.

Which seven-time All-Star point guard did the Bucks acquire in a three-team trade in September 2023?

Damian Lillard. He lasted two seasons: after he tore his Achilles in the 2025 playoffs, the Bucks waived him with two years left on his contract, and he rejoined Portland, the team that had traded him.

Whom did the Bucks beat in Las Vegas in December 2024 to win their first NBA Cup?

Oklahoma City Thunder. Giannis posted a triple-double in the 97-81 final, but the Thunder had the last word: six months later they were NBA champions, while the Bucks went out in the first round.

Which arena, built with $250 million of public money, replaced the Bradley Center as the Bucks' home in 2018?

Fiserv Forum. The team's owners, past and present, matched the taxpayers' $250 million, and the plaza outside the new arena drew tens of thousands of fans to watch the 2021 Finals outdoors.

Which bank bought the naming rights to the Bucks' home, the Bradley Center, in 2012?

BMO Harris. The arena was a gift from Jane Bradley Pettit in memory of her father, but the gift did not cover its upkeep, so after 24 years under the family name alone it sold the rights.

Which colour did the Bucks add in their 2015 rebrand to honour Milwaukee's brick-built nickname?

Cream, for the cream-coloured bricks that gave Milwaukee the nickname Cream City: the local clay fires to a creamy yellow. On the new uniforms the colour took the place of red.

Which coach reached the NBA Finals with Seattle before taking over the Bucks in 1998?

George Karl. Seattle fired him straight after a 61-win season, and within three years he had taken the long-suffering Bucks to within one win of the NBA Finals.

Which team acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Bucks in a blockbuster trade in July 2026?

Miami Heat. After 13 seasons in Milwaukee he left along with Bobby Portis, and the package that came back brought a local player home: Tyler Herro, a Wisconsin native.

Which college did Sidney Moncrief lead to the 1978 Final Four before joining the Bucks?

Arkansas. A Little Rock native, Moncrief stayed home for college and helped lift a long-modest Razorbacks programme to that Final Four, where it lost to the eventual champion.

Which of Giannis Antetokounmpo's brothers won the 2021 NBA title alongside him as a Bucks teammate?

Thanasis. Their younger brother Kostas had beaten them both to a ring a year earlier with another team, and in 2025 another brother, Alex, joined Giannis and Thanasis on the Bucks' roster.

The Bucks' G League team, the Wisconsin Herd, plays in which city, chosen ahead of Racine and Sheboygan?

Oshkosh. The city won the Bucks over by approving a privately funded 3,500-seat arena on the site of the old Buckstaff furniture factory before the team had even committed to coming.

Which Bucks rookie did Kareem Abdul-Jabbar punch in an October 1977 game, breaking his own hand?

Kent Benson. The punch came minutes into the No. 1 pick's first NBA game, after he elbowed Abdul-Jabbar in the stomach; Kareem was fined a then-record $5,000 and missed 20 games with the broken hand.

Which veteran centre did the Bucks acquire from Detroit in 1980 to fill the hole left by Abdul-Jabbar?

Bob Lanier. He arrived at 31 with a long history of knee injuries, yet Milwaukee won its division in every one of his five seasons, and both teams retired his No. 16.

Which future superstar did the Bucks draft in 1998 and trade at once for Robert Traylor?

Dirk Nowitzki. The swap capped a franchise-record seven straight losing seasons: he played 21 years for the team that got him, winning an MVP award and a title, while Traylor lasted two seasons in Milwaukee.

Joe Alexander, the Bucks' eighth pick in 2008, was the NBA's first player born in which country?

Taiwan. Alexander was born in Kaohsiung and grew up partly in China, where his father worked for Nestlé, but the eighth pick of the draft lasted only 67 NBA games.

Where had Brandon Jennings played the year before the 2009 draft, having skipped college?

Italy. Jennings spent a season in Rome as the first American to go straight from high school to a European club, then scored 55 points in only his seventh NBA game for the Bucks.

Which first-year head coach did the Bucks fire in January 2024 despite a 30-13 record?

Adrian Griffin. He was dismissed 43 games into his first head-coaching job; his replacement, Doc Rivers, went 17-19 the rest of the way and the Bucks lost in the first round.

Which team upset the Giannis-less Bucks in the first round of the 2024 playoffs?

Indiana Pacers. With Giannis injured for the whole series, Indiana won in six games, and a year later it knocked Milwaukee out in the first round all over again.