Milwaukee Bucks: 20 Greatest Individual Performances In Franchise History
By Adam McGee
9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – @ Houston Rockets, January 25, 1973
For a list like this you can take your pick from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s countless great performances from his days with the Milwaukee Bucks. In fact, I could comfortably have made this piece Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 20 greatest Milwaukee Bucks performances if I had wanted to either.
As a result, only the most unique and very best of the man once known as Lew Alcindor’s games can make this list.
On this particular occasion, a strong Bucks team still mostly comprised of the core of the championship winning team made their way to Houston to square off with Rudy Tomjanovich‘s Rockets.
The Bucks would narrowly lose the game, but they were carried through the encounter behind 48 points from their legendary big man. That in itself isn’t particularly unusual for a man who had countless 50 point showings, but it was the manner in which he did it that was different.
Free throws are often the staple of any great scorers diet, yet on this occasion, Kareem notched up his 48 points without a single trip to the charity stripe. That sees him tied at the top of the charts in NBA history for most single game points without attempting a free throw with, fittingly enough, Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon.
Next: 8. Ramon Sessions