The 50 Greatest Players in Milwaukee Bucks History

20. Bob Lanier – Dobber

The Stats: Five seasons played in Milwaukee. 13.5/5.9/2.7/1.0/0.9 on 54.1/25.0/73.6.

The Accolades: In the Basketball Hall of Fame. Chosen as an All-Star in 1982. The Bucks retired Lanier’s #16 jersey. 

The Breakdown: Bob Lanier is one of the best 10 Detroit Pistons of all time, but the same cannot be said for his time in Milwaukee. Lanier was still effective with the Milwaukee Bucks, but clearly did not enjoy the same individual level of success with the Bucks. Some things never change though, and for Lanier that meant his defense.

Although his scoring and rebounding had largely fallen off by the time Lanier reached Milwaukee, he was still a mean, nasty defensive anchor. Lanier started for essentially his entire tenure with the Bucks, and was very effective on the defensive end until his very last game.

Lanier spent four years as a full-time starter in Milwaukee, and the Bucks won 50 games each of those years. Sure, some other Bucks legends had a lot to do with those wins. But Lanier did too, even if he wasn’t quite the player he was on the Bad Boys.

Next: Number 19