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 coach	Larry Costello
General manager	John E. Erickson
Owners	Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. (Milwaukee Pro)
Arena	Milwaukee Arena
Results
Record	56–26 (.683)
Place	Division: 2nd (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Division finals (lost to Knicks 1–4)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
< 1968–69 1970–71 >

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
1	1	Lew Alcindor	C	United States	UCLA
2	17	Bob Greacen	F	United States	Rutgers
3	31	Skeeter Swift	G	United States	East Tennessee State
4	45	Bob Dandridge	F	United States	Norfolk State
6	73	John Arthurs	G	United States	Tulane

Roster

1969–70 Milwaukee Bucks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From C 33 Alcindor, Lew 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947–04–16 UCLA F 50 Chappell, Len 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1941–01–31 Wake Forest SG 16 Crawford, Freddie 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1941–12–23 St. Bonaventure C 19 Cunningham, Dick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1946–07–11 Murray State SF 10 Dandridge, Bob 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1947–11–15 Norfolk State F 18 Greacen, Bob 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 1947–09–15 Rutgers G 14 McGlocklin, Jon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1943–06–10 Indiana G 21 Robinson, Flynn 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1941–04–28 Wyoming G 5 Rodgers, Guy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1935–09–31 Temple C 16 Smith, Don 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1946–04–07 Iowa State F 4 Smith, Greg 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1947–01–28 Western Kentucky G 3 Williams, Sam 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1945–01–22 Iowa

Head coach Larry Costello Assistant coach(es) Tom Nissalke Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

Season standings

Eastern Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB
x-New York Knicks	60	22	.732	–
x-Milwaukee Bucks	56	26	.683	4
x-Baltimore Bullets	50	32	.610	10
x-Philadelphia 76ers	42	40	.512	18
Cincinnati Royals	36	46	.439	24
Boston Celtics	34	48	.415	26
Detroit Pistons	31	51	.378	29

Record vs. opponents

1969–70 NBA Records
Team	ATL	BAL	BOS	CHI	CIN	DET	LAL	MIL	NYK	PHI	PHO	SDR	SFW	SEA
Atlanta	—	2–4	6–0	5–2	3–3	3–3	4–3	3–3	4–2	3–3	2–4	4–2	5–2	4–2
Baltimore	4–2	—	5–2	5–1	4–3	5–2	4–2	3–3	1–5	3–4	3–3	6–0	2–4	5–1
Boston	0–6	2–5	—	3–3	3–3	4–3	2–4	1–6	4–3	2–4	2–4	4–2	5–1	2–4
Chicago	2–5	1–5	3–3	—	3–3	3–3	4–2	4–2	0–6	3–3	5–2	3–4	4–2	4–3
Cincinnati	3–3	3–4	3–3	3–3	—	4–2	2–4	2–5	2–5	4–3	3–3	4–2	2–4	1–5
Detroit	3–3	2–5	3–4	3–3	2–4	—	3–3	1–6	1–6	1–5	3–3	3–3	3–3	3–3
Los Angeles	3–4	2–4	4–2	2–4	4–2	3–3	—	3–3	2–4	4–2	3–4	5–2	5–2	6–0
Milwaukee	3–3	3–3	6–1	2–4	5–2	6–1	3–3	—	2–4	5–2	6–0	6–0	4–2	5–1
New York	2–4	5–1	3–4	6–0	5–2	6–1	4–2	4–2	—	5–2	6–0	5–1	5–1	4–2
Philadelphia	3–3	4–3	4–2	3–3	3–4	5–1	2–4	2–5	2–5	—	4–2	4–2	6–0	0–6
Phoenix	4–2	3–3	4–2	2–5	3–3	3–3	4–3	0–6	0–6	2–4	—	7–0	3–3	4–3
San Diego	2–4	0–6	2–4	4–3	2–4	3–3	2–5	0–6	1–5	2–4	0–7	—	5–2	4–2
San Francisco	2–5	4–2	1–5	2–4	4–2	3–3	2–5	2–4	1–5	0–6	3–3	2–5	—	3–4
Seattle	2–4	1–5	4–2	3–4	5–1	3–3	0–6	1–5	2–4	6–0	3–4	2–4	4–3	—

Game log

1969–70 game log Total: 56–26 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0; neutral: 0–0)
October: 6–3 (home: 2–1; road: 4–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 18, 1969 Detroit W 119–110 Milwaukee Arena 1–0 2 October 19, 1969 Seattle W 130–106 Milwaukee Arena 2–0 3 October 22, 1969 @ San Diego W 115–102 San Diego Arena 3–0 4 October 24, 1969 @ Los Angeles L 112–123 The Forum 3–1 5 October 25, 1969 @ San Francisco L 104–118 San Francisco Civic Auditorium 3–2 6 October 26, 1969 @ Phoenix W 119–99 Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 4–2
November: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
December: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
January: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
February: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
March: 0–0 (home: 0–0; road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record
1969–70 schedule

Playoffs

1970 playoff game log
Division semifinals: 4–1 (home: 2–1; road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location 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	80	20.5	43.4	64.3	7.5	0.8	2.1	7.4
Lew Alcindor	82	43.1	51.8	65.3	14.5	4.1	3.5	28.8
John Arthurs	11							3.2
Len Chappell	75							8.3
Freddie Crawford	77							7.6
Dick Cunningham	60							2.1
Bob Dandridge	81							3.2
Bob Greacen	41							2.6
Jon McGlocklin	82							17.6
Flynn Robinson	81							21.8
Guy Rodgers	64							3.2
Greg Smith	82							9.8
Sam Williams	11							2.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Zaid Abdul-Aziz	10										4.3
Lew Alcindor	10										35.2
Len Chappell	9										7.7
Freddie Crawford	10										8.8
Dick Cunningham	8										2.6
Bob Dandridge	10										16.3
Bob Greacen	1										2.0
Jon McGlocklin	10										14.9
Flynn Robinson	10										12.8
Guy Rodgers	7										2.4
Greg Smith	10										10.7
Sam Williams	2										4.0

Awards and honors

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

Notes

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.

• Bucks on Database Basketball
• Bucks on Basketball Reference