The 50 Greatest Players in Milwaukee Bucks History

28. Ersan Ilyasova – Turkish Thunder

The Stats: Seven seasons played in Milwaukee. 10.7/6.0/1.1/0.7/0.4 on 44.7/37.0/77.6.

The Accolades: Lead the Bucks in win shares in 2012 and 2013, top 20 in Bucks history in minutes played as well as points and total rebounds recorded.

The Breakdown: Ersan Ilyasova is a Bucks great. That may be a little hard to process, but it’s absolutely true. He struggled through one of the worst eras in franchise history, but Ilyasova still managed to have a few very strong seasons and even creep up Milwaukee’s all-time leaderboards.

Ilyasova is a typical stretch four, and as such shot 37 percent from beyond the arc in his time with the Bucks. Nagging njuries plagued him throughout his career–only twice was Ilyasova able to play 70 games in a season in Milwaukee, although he also never played less than 55 games either.

It sounds like a backhanded compliment, but Ilyasova’s biggest strength was that he was around through some of Milwaukee’s worst days, and helped lead the team for a couple of them. When most players split for greener pastures, Ilyasova stuck around until the team traded him in 2015.

Next: Number 27