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Milwaukee Bucks retired numbers
33 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
How important was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Milwaukee Bucks? Without him, the Bucks might never have existed at all. Team founders knew that by bringing an NBA franchise to Milwaukee when they did, the intriguing possibility existed that the legendary UCLA star -- then known as Lew Alcindor -- could be acquired in the NBA Draft after the team's first season.
Sure enough, the expansion Bucks and Suns finished last in their respective conferences, "earning" the right to participate in a coin flip, with Alcindor's rights going to the winner. Phoenix called heads; the coin came up tails, and the rest -- including an NBA championship -- is history. Abdul-Jabbar, and his patented "sky-hook" brought instant success to the Bucks. The first-year phenom earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1969-70, and the Bucks won 56 games. For an encore, Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to 66 wins and won the first of three MVP awards with the Bucks in 1970-71, averaging 31.7 ppg and 16.0 rpg. In the playoffs, he led the Bucks to a 12-2 record and their only World Championship. After only six seasons in Milwaukee, Abdul-Jabbar is the leading scorer (14,211) and rebounder (7,161) in team history, and also tops the all-time list in scoring average (30.4 ppg), field goals made (5,902), attempted (10,787) and FG percentage (.547). His 495 blocks rank third on the all-time list even though the statistic was only kept during his final two seasons with the Bucks. Abdul-Jabbar, a New York native, eventually longed for a return to big city life and was granted a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played 14 more seasons before retiring as the leading scorer in NBA history (38,387). He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995, and had his No. 33 -- which was never worn by another Bucks player -- retired in a ceremony at the Bradley Center on April 24, 1993. Milw. Totals (69-75, six seasons)
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