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
< 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. Player Height Weight DOB From C 33 Lew Alcindor 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1947–04–16 UCLA F 50 Len Chappell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1941–01–31 Wake Forest SG 16 Freddie Crawford 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 189 lb (86 kg) 1941–12–23 St. Bonaventure C 19 Dick Cunningham 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1946–07–11 Murray State SF 10 Bob Dandridge 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1947–11–15 Norfolk State F 18 Bob Greacen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 1947–09–15 Rutgers G 14 Jon McGlocklin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1943–06–10 Indiana G 21 Flynn Robinson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1941–04–28 Wyoming G 5 Guy Rodgers 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1935–09–31 Temple C 16 Don Smith 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1946–04–07 Iowa State F 4 Greg Smith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1947–01–28 Western Kentucky G 3 Sam Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1945–01–22 Iowa

Head coach Larry Costello Assistant(s) 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 Lew Alcindor (29) Lew Alcindor (12) Alcindor, McGlocklin, Rodgers (6) Milwaukee Arena 1–0 2 October 19, 1969 Seattle W 130–106 Flynn Robinson (22) Zaid Abdul-Aziz (14) Guy Rodgers (10) Milwaukee Arena 2–0 3 October 22, 1969 @ San Diego W 115–102 Lew Alcindor (36) Lew Alcindor (19) Jon McGlocklin (5) San Diego Arena 3–0 4 October 24, 1969 @ Los Angeles L 112–123 Flynn Robinson (33) Lew Alcindor (20) Flynn Robinson (7) The Forum 3–1 5 October 25, 1969 @ San Francisco L 104–118 Guy Rodgers (20) Zaid Abdul-Aziz (11) John Arthurs (5) San Francisco Civic Auditorium 3–2 6 October 26, 1969 @ Phoenix W 119–99 Lew Alcindor (28) Alcindor, Smith (12) Guy Rodgers (15) Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum 4–2 7 October 28, 1969 Boston L 107–120 Lew Alcindor (43) Greg Smith (15) Flynn Robinson (6) Milwaukee Arena 4–3 8 October 30, 1969 @ Detroit W 102–81 Flynn Robinson (25) Greg Smith (20) Guy Rodgers (10) Cobo Arena 5–3 9 October 31, 1969 @ Philadelphia W 129–125 McGlocklin, Chapell (28) Lew Alcindor (18) Lew Alcindor (9) The Spectrum 6–3
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 Lew Alcindor (36) Lew Alcindor (20) Bob Dandridge (6) University of Wisconsin Field House 9,686 1–0 2 March 27 Philadelphia L 105–112 Lew Alcindor (33) Bob Dandridge (12) Bob Dandridge (7) University of Wisconsin Field House 9,686 1–1 3 March 30 @ Philadelphia W 156–120 Lew Alcindor (33) Lew Alcindor (17) Flynn Robinson (14) Spectrum 15,244 2–1 4 April 1 @ Philadelphia W 118–111 Lew Alcindor (33) Greg Smith (19) Bob Dandridge (7) Spectrum 14,206 3–1 5 April 3 Philadelphia W 115–106 Lew Alcindor (46) Lew Alcindor (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 Lew Alcindor (35) Lew Alcindor (15) Lew Alcindor (5) Madison Square Garden 19,500 0–1 2 April 13 @ New York L 111–112 Lew Alcindor (38) Lew Alcindor (23) Lew Alcindor (11) Madison Square Garden 19,500 0–2 3 April 17 New York W 101–96 Lew Alcindor (33) Lew Alcindor (31) Bob Dandridge (8) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 1–2 4 April 19 New York L 105–117 Lew Alcindor (38) Alcindor, Smith (9) Flynn Robinson (7) Milwaukee Arena 10,746 1–3 5 April 20 @ New York L 96–132 Lew Alcindor (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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	82	43.1	.518	.653	14.5	4.1	3.5	28.8
Jon McGlocklin	82	36.2	.530	.854	3.1	3.7	2.0	17.6
Flynn Robinson	81	34.1	.477	.898	3.2	5.5	3.1	21.8
Bob Dandridge	81	30.4	.485	.754	7.7	3.6	3.4	13.2
Greg Smith	82	28.9	.511	.718	8.7	1.9	3.7	9.8
Zaid Abdul-Aziz	80	20.5	.434	.643	7.5	0.8	2.1	7.4
Freddie Crawford	77	17.3	.480	.682	2.4	2.9	2.4	7.6
Len Chappell	75	15.1	.465	.640	3.7	0.7	1.7	8.3
Guy Rodgers	64	11.7	.356	.744	1.2	3.3	1.1	3.2
John Arthurs	11	7.8	.343	.733	1.3	1.5	1.4	3.2
Bob Greacen	41	7.1	.404	.643	1.4	0.7	1.2	2.6
Dick Cunningham	60	6.9	.369	.667	2.7	0.5	1.2	2.1
Sam Williams	11	4.0	.458	.455	0.6	0.3	0.5	2.5

Playoffs

Player	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PF	PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	10	43.5	.567	.733	16.8	4.1	2.5	35.2
Bob Dandridge	10	39.9	.507	.655	8.7	5.7	3.9	16.3
Jon McGlocklin	10	37.7	.431	.806	3.6	2.1	2.2	14.9
Greg Smith	10	32.9	.500	.591	8.5	2.2	3.4	10.7
Flynn Robinson	10	30.0	.326	.880	2.3	5.0	2.2	12.8
Freddie Crawford	10	20.8	.386	.833	3.5	3.7	2.7	8.8
Len Chappell	9	14.8	.560	.684	2.9	0.6	1.1	7.7
Zaid Abdul-Aziz	7	11.7	.579	.800	3.7	0.6	0.7	4.3
Guy Rodgers	7	9.7	.286	.750	0.6	3.0	1.0	2.4
Bob Greacen	1	8.0	.250	.000	2.0	3.0	0.0	2.0
Sam Williams	2	8.0	.571	.000	2.0	0.5	2.5	4.0
Dick Cunningham	8	5.6	.556	.500	1.5	0.3	0.8	2.6

Awards and honors

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

Notes