Bucks put pieces in place for a title
Alcindor, Robertson paved way for 1971 crown
With the sports world on hold, we present a countdown of the 50 greatest moments in Wisconsin sports history over the past 50 years. This is No. 4.
It could be argued the Milwaukee Bucks won the 1971 title March 18, 1969, with the flip of a coin.
Just more than two years before the Bucks would sweep the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals to bring home the franchise’s only championship, a halfdollar bearing the likeness of John F. Kennedy landed on tails. Bucks chairman Wesley D. Pavalon leaped up from his seat to hug general manager John Erickson, so joyous Pavalon forgot he was still holding a cigarette and burned Erickson’s ear in the process.
At the time, the NBA’s process for determining which team received the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft was a coinflip between the two last-place teams in their respective divisions. The Bucks’ 27 wins outpaced the 16 Phoenix had in 1968-69, but when the Bucks won the coin flip, it gave them the right to draft once-in-a-generation talent Lew Alcindor.
The UCLA big man was on his way to a third NCAA title and a third Most Outstanding Player Award from the Final Four. The Bruins went 88-2 during Al
cindor’s time there, and there was no question the man who would become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would transform whichever franchise he’d join.
Which is, of course, what happened. He was an all-star in each of his six seasons with the Bucks, won three MVPs and led the team to two finals appearances. In 1971, the Bucks won a franchise-record 66 games and claimed a championship in the organization’s third year of existence.
The missing piece
It also could be argued the the title was won April 21, 1970.
One day after New York fans sang “Goodbye, Lewie” while the Knicks put the finishing touches on a 4-1 win over the Bucks in the Eastern Division finals, club President Ray Patterson made good on his promise to his star: “Lew, we’ll get you some help next year.”
Milwaukee acquired 10-year veteran Oscar Robertson from the Cincinnati Royals, landing a 32-year-old still capable of elite play and rescuing him from a sour situation in Cincy with head coach Bob Cousy. Regarded by some as the best player in NBA history to that point, Robertson was the perfect complement to Abdul-Jabbar. In the series against Baltimore, Robertson finished with 9.5 assists, five rebounds and 23.5 points per game.
In the 118-106 clincher on April 4, he scored 30 points.
“You know, this is the first champagne I’ve ever had, and it tastes mighty sweet,” Robertson said afterward. “We won the title in high school, but it was soft drinks then. This is the big leagues, man.”
Goodbye, Knicks
You could even argue the title was secured April 19, 1971, when the Bullets shocked the Knicks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, 93-91.
Earl Monroe scored 26 points, and the defending champion Knicks were suddenly done.
The Bucks only lost 16 games that year, but four of them came against the Knicks in five meetings. The 1971 Finals was lined up as an epic showdown. Instead,
Baltimore ruined the party.
“They played well in spurts, but they weren’t that hungry,” the Bucks’ Jon McGlocklin said of Baltimore. “The New York series drained them, and it sure is tough that they couldn’t get up for the final. We didn’t have a real good game and we still won four straight.
“It has been a year when nothing but the championship was enough,” McGlocklin added.
Whether it was the date in 1969, 1970 or earlier in 1971 that made the most difference, one thing seemed certain: The Bucks officially won their championship on April 30, 1971, but it felt long over by then.
Baltimore shows some fight
Before the game had tipped that Friday, the Time Out Bar and Restaurant on West Kilbourn Avenue had already posted a banner offering congratulations to the champion Bucks.
The Bucks became the second team to win the Finals in four games, joining the 1959 Celtics. Milwaukee won each game by at least 10 points.
If you squinted to find the drama in the clincher, you could find it right after halftime, when the Bullets scored three baskets in the first 55 seconds of the second half and pulled to within 60-53, prompting coach Larry Costello to call timeout.
The Bucks reeled off the next 10 points. Many of the 11,842 fans – several hundred shy of capacity at the Civic Center in Baltimore – headed for the exits with 5 minutes left.
There was a moment when Baltimore’s Jack Marin and Bucks standout Bob Dandridge traded punches, with both getting whistled for a technical foul, though neither was ejected.
Robertson stole the show, noting afterward that he figured the Bucks had the Bullets beaten already in the first quarter.
Before the Bucks came calling, Robertson had nixed a trade that would have sent Gus Johnson to Cincinnati and put Robertson in a Baltimore uniform. Thanks to his veteran status, Robertson had veto power over any trade.
“I know how close it was, and I’m glad I wound up in Milwaukee,” Robertson said. “I didn’t say I was glad I didn’t go to Baltimore. I just said I was glad to come to Milwaukee.”
Johnson was gutting through injury for the Bullets, who finished 42-40 to win the Central and then sneaked into the finals with a pair of 4-3 series victories.
“I felt that Gus Johnson was very important to us and he really wasn’t available, even though he played part time in two games,” Bullets coach Gene Shue said. “Anything else I could say would sound like an alibi.“
Milwaukee went 78-18 in the regular season and playoffs. The Bucks also went 10-0 in preseason games.
“They’ll be there for a long, long time,” said Johnson. “As long as Lew and Oscar can produce, I don’t know who can stop them.”
How the moment lives on
Oscar and Lew continued to produce just fine, but there were teams that found a way to stop them.
In 1972, it was the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers with a 4-2 win in the Western Conference Finals. In 1973, the Bucks were stunned in the opening round by Golden State, 4-2. The Bucks went 60-22 that year and fell to a Warriors team that had finished 47-35.
In 1974, Milwaukee went back to the finals but lost a seventh game in Milwaukee against the Boston Celtics. Abdul-Jabbar’s sky hook at the buzzer gave the Bucks a 102-101 win at the Boston Garden and sent the series onward to a seventh game. In the series, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 32 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.
It fizzled from there. With Robertson retired, the Bucks went 38-44 in 1974-75 and missed the playoffs. Preferring to continue his career in a coastal market, Abdul-Jabbar asked the Bucks for a trade and was moved to the Lakers for the 1975-76 season.
The Bucks held on for some strong years in the early 1980s but never returned to the NBA finals.
The 1971 team still possesses the only sports championship among the two major pro-sports franchises in Milwaukee.