Milwaukee Bucks Team Info
Conference: Eastern
Division: Central
Year Founded: 1968
Team Colors: Good Land Green, Cream City Cream, Great Lakes Blue, Black, White
Mascot: Bango
Team Rivals: Chicago Bulls, Miami HEAT, Boston Celtics
Important Event Info: The Fiserv Forum Ticket Office is open on event days from 12:00PM (or 3 hours prior to the event, whichever is earliest) until approximately 1 hour into the event, and on Saturdays from 12:00PM until 4:00PM. The Ticket Office is closed on non-event weekdays and Sundays.
On January 22, 1968, the National Basketball Association awarded a Milwaukee-based franchise to Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc., a group of investors headed by Wesley D. Pavalon and Marvin L. Fishman. The Bucks struggled through their first season, but immediately turned that around following the selection of Lew Alcindor (who would later go by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) at No. 1 overall in the 1969 NBA Draft. In his second season, Alcindor won the NBA MVP and led the Bucks as they steamrolled through the playoffs. They swept the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals, giving the Bucks a championship in just their third year of existence.
The Bucks were a powerhouse team for the first half of the 1970s, led by Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. After the departure of Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975, the team was in a transition period until head coach Don Nelson came aboard in November 1976. The 1980s saw much success for the Bucks team with the additions of Sidney Moncrief in 1979 and Bob Lanier in 1980. Nelson won NBA Coach of the Year twice during his 11-year tenure with the Bucks while leading the team to seven division titles.
The Bucks struggled throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but the 2010s brought the Bucks to its modern era and coined the start of the iconic “Fear the Deer” phrase after a playoff win over the Chicago Bulls in 2010. In the 2013 NBA Draft, the Bucks selected Giannis Antetokounmpo as the 15th overall pick and acquired Khris Middleton from the Detroit Pistons. April 16, 2014 marked the beginning of a new era for the NBA franchise, as ownership was transferred to a new group headed by entrepreneurs Marc Lasry and Wes Edens.
In the 2020–21 season, led by Antetokounmpo, the Bucks capped off a historic year by defeating the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals in 6 games to become NBA Champions for the second time in franchise history.