The 50 Greatest Players in Milwaukee Bucks History

44. Swen Nater – The Remarkable Rebounder

The Stats: One season played in Milwaukee. 13.0/12.0/1.5/0.8/0.7 on 52.8/00.0/75.4.

The Accolades: Led the 1977 Milwaukee Bucks in win shares, recorded a 30 point, 30 rebound game, second all-time in Bucks history in rebounds per game. 

The Breakdown: Swen Nater has a bit of a complicated history with the Milwaukee Bucks. The team actually attempted to draft him in 1974, but there was a problem. That Bucks team had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Nater was fresh off of a college career that saw him average two minutes per game on the bench behind Bill Walton. Nater was done riding the pine.

So he instead opted for the ABA, where he became known as a rebounding terror. He then bounced around several ABA teams before that league folded, and Nater finally found himself back on the Bucks! He only spent a season in Milwaukee before being traded for the fourth greatest Buck, but Nater made sure to make an impact in his brief stint on the Bucks.

This great Hardwood Paroxysm piece details his rare feat well:

"In mid-December, the Bucks took on the Hawks and demolished them 129-106 behind a breathtaking 30 point-33 rebound effort by Swen. Since Swen, only Moses Malone (2x), Robert Parish, Kevin Love and Kareem have achieved 30 points and 30 rebounds in a single game"

So although Nater seems to have been largely forgotten by younger NBA fans, he sure could rebound! It’s noteworthy that three of the players to accomplish that feat spent at least some time in Milwaukee. There’s just something about the Bucks and great rebounders, it seems!

Next: Number 43