How Many Championships Have the Bucks Won?

Milwaukee is only one game away from winning the 2021 NBA Finals against the Suns.
How Many Championships Have the Bucks Won?
How Many Championships Have the Bucks Won? /

With an NBA Finals matchup against the Suns, the Bucks are only one win away from ending their 50-year title drought, the fifth-longest in NBA history.

Milwaukee's only previous NBA title came in 1971 in the first of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's three MVP seasons with the side. The NBA's all-time leading scorer, who changed his name from Lew Alcindor after the title, also won the NBA Finals MVP and the NBA scoring title (31.7 points per game) in just his second NBA season.

Led by coach Larry Costello, the Bucks swept a Baltimore Bullets team that featured future Hall of Famers Earl Monroe, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson. The Bucks also defeated the Lakers, 4-1, in the Western Conference Finals. 

In 1971, a trade for a 32-year-old Cincinnati Royals guard Oscar Robertson before the season proved to be the difference. The Bucks put together the best record in the league after winning 66 games and setting a single-season record with a 20-game winning streak.

With two games to win one, the Bucks second NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has the chance to clinch the franchise's second NBA title. 

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.