1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks season

The 1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks season was the second season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Led by the heralded rookie center Lew Alcindor, they finished with a 56–26 record, enough for second place in the Eastern Division. After beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4–1 in the Eastern semifinals, they lost to the eventual champions New York Knicks in five games.

1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks season
Head coachLarry Costello
General managerJohn E. Erickson
OwnersMilwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. (Milwaukee Pro)
ArenaMilwaukee Arena
Results
Record56–26 (.683)
PlaceDivision: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finishDivision finals
(lost to Knicks 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Draft picks

After a 27–55 record in their inaugural NBA season, the Bucks won a coin toss over the Phoenix Suns to give them the right to select first overall in the 1969 NBA draft.[1] Their designated selection had long been a foregone conclusion: UCLA Bruins center Lew Alcindor. However, Alcindor was also selected first overall by the New York Nets in the competing American Basketball Association's entry draft, which triggered a bidding war for Alcindor's services. He eventually opted for the Bucks' five-year $1.4 million offer over a much more lucrative $3.2 million offer from the Nets,[2] preferring the established NBA over a new and struggling ABA.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College
11Lew AlcindorC United StatesUCLA
217Bob GreacenF United StatesRutgers
331Skeeter SwiftG United StatesEast Tennessee State
445Bob DandridgeF United StatesNorfolk State
673John ArthursG United StatesTulane

Roster
1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOBFrom
C 33 Alcindor, Lew 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) UCLA
PF 50 Chappell, Len 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Wake Forest
SG 16 Crawford, Freddie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 189 lb (86 kg) St. Bonaventure
C 19 Cunningham, Dick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Murray State
SF 10 Dandridge, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Norfolk State
F 18 Greacen, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) Rutgers
SG 14 McGlocklin, Jon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Indiana
PG 21 Robinson, Flynn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Wyoming
PG 5 Rodgers, Guy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Temple
F 35 Smith, Don 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Iowa State
PF 4 Smith, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Western Kentucky
G 3 Williams, Sam 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Iowa
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Regular season

Season standings
Eastern Division
 W L PCT GB
x-New York Knicks 6022.732–
x-Milwaukee Bucks 5626.6834
x-Baltimore Bullets 5032.61010
x-Philadelphia 76ers 4240.51218
Cincinnati Royals 3646.43924
Boston Celtics 3448.41526
Detroit Pistons 3151.37829

Record vs. opponents
1969–70 NBA Records
Team ATL BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL MIL NYK PHI PHO SDR SFW SEA
Atlanta —2–46–05–23–33–34–33–34–23–32–44–25–24–2
Baltimore 4–2—5–25–14–35–24–23–31–53–43–36–02–45–1
Boston 0–62–5—3–33–34–32–41–64–32–42–44–25–12–4
Chicago 2–51–53–3—3–33–34–24–20–63–35–23–44–24–3
Cincinnati 3–33–43–33–3—4–22–42–52–54–33–34–22–41–5
Detroit 3–32–53–43–32–4—3–31–61–61–53–33–33–33–3
Los Angeles 3–42–44–22–44–23–3—3–32–44–23–45–25–26–0
Milwaukee 3–33–36–12–45–26–13–3—2–45–26–06–04–25–1
New York 2–45–13–46–05–26–14–24–2—5–26–05–15–14–2
Philadelphia 3–34–34–23–33–45–12–42–52–5—4–24–26–00–6
Phoenix 4–23–34–22–53–33–34–30–60–62–4—7–03–34–3
San Diego 2–40–62–44–32–43–32–50–61–52–40–7—5–24–2
San Francisco 2–54–21–52–44–23–32–52–41–50–63–32–5—3–4
Seattle 2–41–54–23–45–13–30–61–52–46–03–42–44–3—

Game log
1969–70 game log
#DateOpponentScoreHigh pointsRecord
1October 18Detroit110–119Lew Alcindor[lower-alpha 1] (29)1–0
2October 19Seattle106–130Flynn Robinson (22)2–0
3October 22@ San Diego115–102Lew Alcindor (36)3–0
4October 24@ Los Angeles112–123Flynn Robinson (33)3–1
5October 25@ San Francisco104–118Guy Rodgers (20)3–2
6October 26@ Phoenix119–99Lew Alcindor (28)4–2
7October 28Boston120–107Lew Alcindor (43)4–3
8October 30@ Detroit102–81Flynn Robinson (25)5–3
9October 31@ Philadelphia129–125 (OT)Chappell, McGlocklin (28)6–3
10November 1@ New York108–112Lew Alcindor (36)6–4
11November 3New York109–93Bob Greacen (18)6–5
12November 8Detroit96–100Lew Alcindor (29)7–5
13November 9Baltimore116–105Alcindor, Chappell (24)7–6
14November 11@ Boston129–118Flynn Robinson (31)8–6
15November 14Chicago100–122Jon McGlocklin (17)9–6
16November 15@ Baltimore120–129Flynn Robinson (41)9–7
17November 16San Francisco123–129 (OT)Jon McGlocklin (29)10–7
18November 18@ San Francisco110–127Jon McGlocklin (23)10–8
19November 21@ Seattle117–115Lew Alcindor (31)11–8
20November 22@ Chicago106–125Lew Alcindor (21)11–9
21November 24Cincinnati129–104Alcindor, Arthurs, McGlocklin (13)11–10
22November 25N Atlanta130–115Lew Alcindor (33)12–10
23November 26Los Angeles81–100Lew Alcindor (29)13–10
24November 29Philadelphia129–111Lew Alcindor (23)13–11
25November 30San Diego99–111Lew Alcindor (23)14–11
26December 2@ Philadelphia122–114Bob Dandridge (26)15–11
27December 5Seattle98–131Lew Alcindor (36)16–11
28December 6@ New York99–124Lew Alcindor (26)16–12
29December 10New York96–95Flynn Robinson (30)16–13
30December 12San Francisco109–123Flynn Robinson (29)17–13
31December 13@ Atlanta121–100Flynn Robinson (31)18–13
32December 14N San Diego105–118Lew Alcindor (32)19–13
33December 17@ Boston124–106Lew Alcindor (29)20–13
34December 19Boston111–115Alcindor, Robinson (25)21–13
35December 21Phoenix111–118Flynn Robinson (25)22–13
36December 26@ Detroit114–101Flynn Robinson (26)23–13
37December 27@ Cincinnati110–112 (OT)Flynn Robinson (42)23–14
38December 28Baltimore124–133Lew Alcindor (35)24–14
39December 30@ Baltimore126–124Flynn Robinson (35)25–14
40December 31San Diego126–143Lew Alcindor (35)26–14
41January 2New York105–118Lew Alcindor (41)27–14
42January 4Atlanta126–125Lew Alcindor (33)27–15
43January 7Cincinnati119–138Flynn Robinson (36)28–15
44January 9Phoenix116–120Flynn Robinson (30)29–15
45January 10Boston109–124Flynn Robinson (31)30–15
46January 13N Cincinnati112–92Lew Alcindor (28)31–15
47January 14Los Angeles113–115Lew Alcindor (46)32–15
48January 17Chicago132–130 (OT)Flynn Robinson (34)32–16
49January 18San Francisco107–123Jon McGlocklin (29)33–16
50January 22N San Diego106–115Alcindor, Robinson (27)34–16
51January 24Cincinnati109–125Flynn Robinson (33)35–16
52January 25@ Atlanta131–116Flynn Robinson (33)36–16
53January 26Philadelphia122–103Lew Alcindor (34)36–17
54January 28@ Cincinnati126–114Alcindor, McGlocklin (33)37–17
55January 30@ Chicago121–105Lew Alcindor (27)38–17
56January 31@ Phoenix107–106Zaid Abdul-Aziz (36)39–17
57February 1@ Seattle116–118Flynn Robinson (33)39–18
58February 4@ San Diego141–123Flynn Robinson (30)40–18
59February 6@ Los Angeles118–105Lew Alcindor (29)41–18
60February 8@ Baltimore106–120Lew Alcindor (36)41–19
61February 10@ Philadelphia139–131Lew Alcindor (36)42–19
62February 11Phoenix120–127Lew Alcindor (32)43–19
63February 14Boston117–127Lew Alcindor (41)44–19
64February 15Los Angeles98–96Jon McGlocklin (21)44–20
65February 18@ San Francisco109–102Lew Alcindor (26)45–20
66February 20@ Los Angeles114–119Lew Alcindor (31)45–21
67February 21N Seattle127–140Lew Alcindor (51)46–21
68February 22@ Phoenix144–124Lew Alcindor (34)47–21
69February 24@ Detroit111–136Lew Alcindor (46)47–22
70February 25Baltimore113–115Lew Alcindor (27)48–22
71February 27Detroit113–131Lew Alcindor (33)49–22
72March 1Cincinnati114–120Lew Alcindor (32)50–22
73March 3Philadelphia116–127Lew Alcindor (31)51–22
74March 5Atlanta126–117Lew Alcindor (39)51–23
75March 6@ Detroit121–118Lew Alcindor (38)52–23
76March 8@ Boston138–134Lew Alcindor (44)53–23
77March 9Seattle105–124Lew Alcindor (25)54–23
78March 10@ Atlanta127–140Lew Alcindor (40)54–24
79March 15N Chicago107–130Lew Alcindor (30)54–25
80March 18@ New York116–108Flynn Robinson (29)55–25
81March 20@ Philadelphia138–112Lew Alcindor (41)56–25
82March 22@ Chicago115–129Lew Alcindor (27)56–26

Playoffs
1970 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 March 25 Philadelphia W 125–118 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (36) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20) Bob Dandridge (6) University of Wisconsin Field House
9,686		 1–0
2 March 27 Philadelphia L 105–112 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Bob Dandridge (12) Bob Dandridge (7) University of Wisconsin Field House
9,686		 1–1
3 March 30 @ Philadelphia W 156–120 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (17) Flynn Robinson (14) Spectrum
15,244		 2–1
4 April 1 @ Philadelphia W 118–111 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Greg Smith (19) Bob Dandridge (7) Spectrum
14,206		 3–1
5 April 3 Philadelphia W 115–106 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (46) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (25) Bob Dandridge (8) University of Wisconsin Field House
12,868		 4–1
Division finals: 1–4 (home: 1–1; road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Series
1 April 11 @ New York L 102–110 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (35) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5) Madison Square Garden
19,500		 0–1
2 April 13 @ New York L 111–112 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (11) Madison Square Garden
19,500		 0–2
3 April 17 New York W 101–96 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (33) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31) Bob Dandridge (8) Milwaukee Arena
10,746		 1–2
4 April 19 New York L 105–117 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38) Abdul-Jabbar, Smith (9) Flynn Robinson (7) Milwaukee Arena
10,746		 1–3
5 April 20 @ New York L 96–132 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (27) Zaid Abdul-Aziz (12) Guy Rodgers (6) Madison Square Garden
19,500		 1–4
1970 schedule

Player statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season
Player GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PF PPG
Zaid Abdul-Aziz 8020.543.464.37.50.82.17.4
Lew Alcindor 8243.151.865.314.54.13.528.8
John Arthurs 113.2
Len Chappell 758.3
Freddie Crawford 777.6
Dick Cunningham 602.1
Bob Dandridge 813.2
Bob Greacen 412.6
Jon McGlocklin 8217.6
Flynn Robinson 8121.8
Guy Rodgers 643.2
Greg Smith 829.8
Sam Williams 112.5

Playoffs
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Zaid Abdul-Aziz 104.3
Lew Alcindor 1035.2
Len Chappell 97.7
Freddie Crawford 108.8
Dick Cunningham 82.6
Bob Dandridge 1016.3
Bob Greacen 12.0
Jon McGlocklin 1014.9
Flynn Robinson 1012.8
Guy Rodgers 72.4
Greg Smith 1010.7
Sam Williams 24.0

Awards and honors
  • Lew Alcindor, NBA Rookie of the Year
  • Lew Alcindor, NBA All-Rookie Team
  • Lew Alcindor, NBA All-Star Game Appearance

Notes
  1. Changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before the 1971–72 season.

References
  1. "Tails-Up Call on Coin Toss Wins First Basketball Pick for Bucks". The New York Times. March 20, 1969.
  2. "Alcindor Rejects A.B.A.'s $3.2-Million Offer and Will Sign With Bucks". The New York Times. March 30, 1969.
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