Boston Celtics Codexery

Milwaukee Bucks

The only NBA team to win championships in both conferences.

The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and play home games at Fiserv Forum. Former U.S. senator Herb Kohl was the long-time owner of the team, but on April 16, 2014, a group led by billionaire hedge fund managers Wes Edens and Marc Lasry agreed to purchase a majority interest in the team from Kohl, a sale which was approved by the owners of the NBA and its Board of Governors one month later on May 16.

The team is managed by Jon Horst, the team's former director of basketball operations, who took over for John Hammond. The Bucks have won two league championships (1971, 2021), three conference titles (Western: 1971, 1974, Eastern: 2021), 19 division titles (1971–1974, 1976, 1980–1986, 2001, 2019–2024), and the 2024 NBA Cup. They have featured such notable players as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge, Sidney Moncrief, Bob Lanier, Terry Cummings, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, Michael Redd, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Damian Lillard among others.

Abdul-Jabbar and Antetokounmpo have been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player while playing for the Bucks, for a total of five MVP awards. They both are also the only players to win Finals MVP for the franchise. The Bucks are the only NBA team to have won a championship in both the Eastern and Western Conference.

Quick Facts

Season record
57–25
Final playoff round
Eastern Conference finals
Playoff opponent
Boston Celtics

Lore & Background

The Bucks were founded in 1968 as an expansion team. Their first season (1968–69) was a struggle; their first victory came in their sixth game, and they won only 26 more games that year. The Bucks' record earned them a coin flip against the Phoenix Suns for the first pick in the draft, which they won, securing Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). With Alcindor, the Bucks finished 56–26 in 1969–70, a 29-game improvement from their inaugural 27-win season—the best in league history until the Boston Celtics jumped from 29 wins in 1978–79 to 61 in 1979–80.

The Bucks won their first NBA championship in 1971, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets. After Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Lakers in 1975, the Bucks entered a transition period. Under coach Don Nelson, they won division titles in 1983 and 1985. In 1983, they became the first team in NBA history to sweep the Boston Celtics in a best-of-seven playoff series.

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