Milwaukee Bucks: A Look At The First-Ever Bucks Game

To celebrate Milwaukee Bucks history month here at Behind the Buck Pass, take a look back at the first Bucks game to ever happen, including all 11 of the players that got playing time.

The Milwaukee Bucks may have just one NBA championship in their trophy cabinet, but that doesn’t mean the Bucks don’t have a rich history. This September, Behind the Buck Pass is honoring that history by focusing on it with our articles this month.

This article represents one of the first chapters in Milwaukee Bucks history–the first game ever played by the Bucks. On October 16th, 1968, the Bucks lost a close game to the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls triumphed 89-84.

There aren’t many statistics available for that game, but basketball-reference does provide a box score complete with all of the players who got playing time for Milwaukee in the franchise’s first game.

More from Bucks History

• The 3 biggest “What Ifs” in Milwaukee Bucks’ franchise history
• 6 Underrated Milwaukee Bucks of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era
• Ranking Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10 best Bucks teammates of all time
• How well do you know the Milwaukee Bucks’ top 20 career point leaders?
• Looking at important playoff numbers in Milwaukee Bucks franchise history

We’ll go through the players one by one, shining a little light on them and seeing what they did in the rest of their NBA careers. Some names may be familiar–many likely will not. The Bucks weren’t too far off from their first NBA championship, but not too many players from the first team made it to the first title run.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the first 11 players to ever suit up for the Milwaukee Bucks some 48 years ago this October.

Next: Guy Rodgers