Milwaukee Bucks: Q&A With Franchise Legend And Broadcaster Marques Johnson
By Adam McGee
How Special Were Those Bucks Teams?
AM: Looking back on it now, the most incredible aspect of those teams was the level of consistency that you guys achieved. How special was that group of players, and do you still think about what you guys achieved, and what you could have achieved with a bit more luck?
MJ: Loved playing with that group. Everybody understood their role. I averaged 26 points per game in my second year and made the All-NBA First Team, knocking Julius Erving off the team.
Nellie called me into his office before the next season and asked me to scale that back to 20 points per game and seven rebounds with good defense.
His point was that we had such terrific balance with Bob Lanier, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, Sidney Moncrief, Mickey Johnson and Quinn Buckner.
That would be a hard sell in today’s “brand” conscious NBA. It’s no secret we couldn’t get by the Sixers with Dr. J and Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones. Nor the Celtics with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. But then again, who could?