Milwaukee Bucks: Comparing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Two NBA Finals Wins

The Milwaukee Bucks have now won two NBA titles. The first one came in 1971. The second one came in 2021. Yes, a 50-year difference between the two championships. The main reasons for those titles, was due to the play of the big men on those Milwaukee teams. In 1971, it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor) and in 2021 it was Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Both players came to the Bucks in the 1st round of their respective NBA drafts.

Abdul-Jabbar (then Alcindor) was the first player taken in the 1969 NBA draft. The Bucks were able to select No. 33 after winning a coin toss versus the Phoenix Suns for the right to draft the man who led UCLA to three straight NCAA championships.

Antetokounmpo was also taken in the 1st round with the 15th pick of the 2013 NBA draft at the age of 18.

Kareem won his first NBA title in just his second year in the NBA. He had been named NBA Rookie of the Year for the 1969-70 season was the NBA MVP in 1970-71 going into the playoffs.

Giannis won his first NBA title in his eighth season in the NBA. No. 34 was twice named as the NBA MVP (2018-19 & 2019-20), plus was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2019-20.

When Kareem and the Bucks won the NBA title in 1971, their opponent was the Baltimore Bullets. The Bucks were able to sweep the Bullets in four games and Abdul-Jabbar was named NBA Finals MVP. But Kareem received some help from his teammates. Oscar Robertson averaged 23.5 points per game, 5 rebounds per game and 9.5 assists per game vs. Baltimore. In addition, Bobby Dandridge averaged 20.3 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game.

When Giannis and the Bucks won the NBA title in 2021, their opponent was the Suns. The Bucks were able to win the series in six games, after being down 2-0 in the series. Giannis was named NBA Finals MVP. But the “Greek Freak” also had some help. Khris Middleton averaged 24 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game. In addition, Jrue Holiday averaged 16.7 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game and 9.3 assists per game. Plus, both Antetokounmpo (1.2) and Middleton (1.5) averaged over a steal per game, while Holiday (2.2) averaged over two steals per game.

In the 1971 NBA Finals, the Bucks played their home games at the Milwaukee Arena, but won the clinching game at the Baltimore Civic Center.

In the 2021 NBA Finals, the Bucks played their home games at the Fiserv Forum and won the clinching game at home in front of 17,500 fans in the forum and 65,000 more fans in the Deer District area.

Let’s take a look at what Kareem and Giannis did in helping to bring the city of Milwaukee the NBA title, as both were named MVP.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1971 NBA Finals

• Points Per Game: 27
• Rebounds Per Game: 18.5
• Assists Per Game: 2.8

Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2021 NBA Finals

• Points Per Game: 35.2
• Rebounds Per Game: 13.2
• Assists Per Game: 5

Bottom line, both Kareem and Giannis were able to lead their respective teams to the NBA title by performing at a MVP level. Kareem would later win five more NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. Time will tell how many more NBA titles that Giannis will win. The odds are pretty good that the 2021 NBA title won’t be the last. After all, Giannis is still only 26 years-old.

The Milwaukee Bucks Can Achieve a First in Cream City on Tuesday Night

The 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks can achieve something on Tuesday night that has never happened before in the city of Milwaukee. That is, a team from Cream City winning a major professional sports championship at home.

In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves, behind the great hitting of Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews and the great pitching of Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette, won the World Series versus the New York Yankees in seven games. However, Game 7 was played at Yankee Stadium.

The Braves had a chance to win the 1958 World Series at home, as the team had a 3-2 lead in the Fall Classic with Game 6 and Game 7 at County Stadium. Unfortunately, manager Fred Haney of the Braves decided to let Spahn (in Game 6) and Burdette (in Game 7) each pitch on just two days rest and the Braves lost each game to the Yankees.

50 years ago, under head coach Larry Costello, the 1970-71 Bucks had a 66-16 record in the regular season. The team was led by center Lew Alcindor, who would soon afterward change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Alcindor averaged 31.7 points and 16 rebounds per game and was named the NBA MVP in 1971.

Alcindor, who had led UCLA to three straight national championships before he was drafted by the Bucks, also had one of the greatest players in NBA history as a teammate that year. I’m talking about guard Oscar Robertson. The Bucks had acquired Robertson before the season when Milwaukee shipped guard Flynn Robinson and forward Charlie Paulk to the Cincinnati Royals for Oscar. “The Big O” averaged 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game for the Bucks during the 1970-71 season.

The other three starters for the Bucks, forward Bobby Dandridge (18.4), guard Jon McGlocklin (15.8) and forward Greg Smith (11.7), all averaged in double figures in points. The top two players off the bench for the Bucks, forward Bob Boozer (9.1) and guard Lucius Allen (7.1), were also very effective on the court.

The Bucks compiled a 12-2 record in the playoffs that season which culminated in a four-game sweep against the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals, as the Bucks won the NBA title. But Game 4 was played at the Baltimore Civic Center, not at the Milwaukee Arena.

That would be the last time a professional sports team from Milwaukee won a league championship. The Milwaukee Brewers came close in 1982 behind the great play of American League MVP Robin Yount. The Brew Crew did win the ALCS in Milwaukee, but then lost the ultimate championship, the World Series, in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Game 7 was also played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Now the Green Bay Packers did win the 1939 NFL title at the Dairy Bowl at State Fair Park in West Allis, which is right outside of Milwaukee. In fact, my dad and my grandfather were there to witness the game and to see stars like Don Hutson and Cecil Isbell in person. Still, it was not a Milwaukee team which won the title in their own backyard.

That being said…the Packers, the Braves (while they were in Milwaukee), the Bucks and the Brewers have all gotten great support from residents from the entire state of Wisconsin.

Which takes us to Tuesday night at the Fiserv Forum. The Bucks hold a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals over the Phoenix Suns. That in itself is very ironic, because both teams came into the NBA at the same time in 1968 and both had a coin flip for the right to draft Alcindor in 1969. The whole scenario and much more, including the 1970-71 championship season, is out in a great new book by Rick Schabowski called From Coin Toss to Championship/1971: The Year of the Milwaukee Bucks.

A win on Tuesday night will give the city of Milwaukee it’s first ever championship won at home. Just like it’s been this entire series, the Bucks need to come through with a total team effort. “The Big 3” of the Bucks, forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, forward Khris Middleton and guard Jrue Holiday, all need to play well just like they did in the Game 5 victory in Phoenix.

Plus, players like center Brook Lopez, forward P.J. Tucker, guard Pat Connaughton and forward Bobby Portis have to come up big as well for head coach Mike Budenholzer.

The Suns have a terrific trio themselves, with guard Devin Booker, guard Chris Paul and center Deandre Ayton.

The bottom line is that the task will not be easy. It’s been that way for the Bucks this postseason. The team had to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the series against the Brooklyn Nets and also in this series against the Suns. But this has now all evolved to the point of just one more win brings the Bucks the NBA championship.

And if that win comes on Tuesday night, it will be the first time a Milwaukee team in a major professional sport, has ever won the league title at home. If it happens, the Fiserv Forum will be rocking. Not to mention the Deer District will be in a state of delirious celebration.

I’ve known that feeling, but in another city. In 2004, I was at Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa when the Tampa Bay Lightning won their first Stanley Cup. I was in a definite state of euphoria as I watched everyone on the team hoist Lord Stanley and skate happily around on the ice.

This year, the city of Tampa has seen that happen twice. Once with the Tampa Bay Bucs winning Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and then the Lightning winning their second straight Stanley Cup at the Amalie Arena in Tampa.

Milwaukee has never been able to do that. I have a strong feeling that will change on Tuesday night at the Fiserv Forum.

Fear the Deer!