Top five players in Milwaukee Bucks history

Top five players in Milwaukee history Bucks

The names that made the franchise one of the most important teams in the NBA

Since its inception in 1968, the Milwaukee Bucks have had incredible talent that has carried the green team in franchise history. Hall of Famers such as Gary Payton and Bob Lanier were also part of Milwaukee, but their impact on that team was not significant enough to place them among the most significant basketball players who played for the Bucks in the National Basketball Association . The best have to be those who spent the majority of their careers with this team and left the most lasting mark, helping to a number of successes and reaching serious heights with the green team. In the following lines, we present to you the five most memorable players who have been a part of Bucks history.

5. Ray Allen

In the fifth position we place Ray Allen. Although current NBA fans know him better from his stints with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, some of the guard's best years were spent in Milwaukee. He began his major league career with the team in 1996, although he was then drafted No. 5 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the next 6 seasons, Allen averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in a total of 494 games for the Bucks. Also, his shooting from the three-point line is 40.6% during that time at over 5 attempts per game average. In the years he has been a part of this franchise, Allen has appeared in 3 All-Star games and posted pretty good numbers in them. However, the lack of a title forced him to look for another team and he managed to put on his first ring in 2008. as a Boston player, as well as 5 years later with the Miami team, to give up as the player with the most three-pointers in the NBA at the time - 2,973.

4. Sidney Moncrief

One place ahead we put Sidney Moncrief. Drafted by the Bucks in 1979, he was a part of the team for 20 years, or to put it another way, only his last season was with another team and that was the Atlanta Hawks. Moncrief went down in history as one of the best defenders in the league during his time, earning him two Defensive Player of the Year awards. Interestingly, he is only one of five guards to win this award along with Alvin Robertson, Michael Cooper, Gary Payton and Michael Jordan. Sidney has 5 All-Star appearances, 5 All-Defensive All-League selections, and 5 All-Star selections. He is also the fourth leading scorer in Milwaukee history.

3. Oscar Robertson

Another player from the not-so-recent past is in the top three, namely Oscar Robertson. Although his best years were with the Cincinnati Royals, where he toiled from the 1960s through the 1970s, he played a key role in one of the best seasons in Bucks history in his Final 4 NBA campaigns. He also won the title with Milwaukee in 1971 and finished with averages of 25.3 points, 9.5 assists and 5 rebounds in the team's last four games. Oscar adds two more All-Star appearances to his previous nine as a Cincinnati player. He remains in history as the all-time leading triple-double player with 181, but was surpassed by Russell Westbrook last season. Robertson may not have had his most significant years in the NBA with Milwaukee, but he was instrumental in the franchise's first title and therefore deserves a spot in the top three.

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo

Second is a player who is still in his active career and has the potential to become the Bucks number one all-time. Of course it's "The Greek Freak" Giannis Antetokounmpo. Drafted by Milwaukee in 2013, he continues to make history and has been named regular season MVP for two straight seasons. This happened in 2019 and 2020. To build on that, he was instrumental in the franchise's title run last season and logically won the MVP award in the Finals against the Phoenix Suns. At just 27 years old, he already has 5 All-Star appearances, 5 All-NBA selections, one Defensive Player of the Season Award and 4 All-Defensive All-Defensive Team honors. On top of all that, we add his amazing performance in the Finals against the Suns, where he finished with averages of 35.2 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. And yes, the most successful player in the history of the Bucks - Kareem Abdul Jabbar - is chasing more and more confidently and will soon overtake him.

It is Kareem who is number one, but this is unlikely to last much longer given the capabilities of Giannis. Before becoming a legend with the Los Angeles Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar was drafted in '69 by Milwaukee and is the man more credited than Oscar Robertson for winning the team's first NBA title. Some people even consider him the greatest of all time, and rightfully so. Already in his debut season, he averaged 34.8 points per game, shooting 57.4% per game, made 16.6 rebounds and another 4.6 assists per game, which also brought him the first award for the most valuable player in the regular season. With the Bucks, he has two more such awards out of a total of six in his career. Of course, as part of that franchise, he's also been named Rookie of the Year, played in every single All-Star Game, 6 in total, made the All-NBA Team five times, was the top scorer twice, and of course, was the MVP of the 1971 Finals against the Baltimore Bullets. He's still the team's leading scorer with 14,211 points and the team's rebounding leader with 7,161. What if he had spent his entire career with Wisconsin? No one can give an answer. In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar moved to the Lakers, and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.