Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks: 49 years in 49 days – 1998-99 season

By Ti Windisch

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 9: Indiana Pacers forward Reggie Miller (R) heads for the basket as Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Curry (L) defends during first quarter play of the Eastern Conference playoffs 09 May 1999 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo credit should read ERNEST PETERSON/AFP/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 9: Indiana Pacers forward Reggie Miller (R) heads for the basket as Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Curry (L) defends during first quarter play of the Eastern Conference playoffs 09 May 1999 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo credit should read ERNEST PETERSON/AFP/Getty Images) /
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George Karl took over Milwaukee Bucks coaching duties prior to a shortened 1998-99 season and made an immediate impact.

The season: 1998-99

The record: 28-22

The postseason: Lost in first round

The story:

The 1998-99 NBA season was wild for the entire league, but it was especially impactful for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks found the third member of their big three, traded just about everybody else on the roster, and added a new head coach.

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A lockout due to a labor dispute between the NBA and NBPA led to the season starting late, and consisting of just 50 regular season games. The league was shook up, but looked positively calm next to the ever-shifting Milwaukee roster.

First, George Karl was brought from Seattle to coach the team. A now-infamous trade saw the Bucks deal the Dirk Nowitzki pick to Dallas in exchange for Robert Traylor, and the team then added Dell Curry and Vinny Del Negro via free agency.

Both new players ended up having real roles on the Bucks right away, and Curry (father of modern superstar Stephen Curry) would actually lead the entire Association in three-point percentage. The really radical moves happened in the middle of the season, though.

Milwaukee swapped out Terrell Brandon, acquired the season prior for Vin Baker, in a complicated three-team deal that netted the Bucks Sam Cassell, as well as Chris Gatling and Paul Grant. Then, in a different transaction, the Bucks got Tim Thomas and Scott Williams for Tyrone Hill and Jerald Honeycutt.

The Bucks now had assembled a trio that would prove to be an effective one: Glenn Robinson III, Ray Allen, and Cassell. Regular season scoring averages were down for Milwaukee in the shortened season, as Allen posted 17.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

Robinson continued to put the ball through the net, scoring 18.4 points per game while adding 5.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.0 steals and nearly one block each night too. Brandon, Cassell and Curry were the other Bucks who averaged at least double-digit nightly scoring totals, although none of them got past 14 points per game.

Even with the team in a somewhat discombobulated state, the Bucks still were pretty damn good. Milwaukee’s defense improved from its leaky status in years past, and the offense was downright effective. The Bucks were seventh in offensive rating, in large part thanks to converting three-pointers at a higher rate than any other team.

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For the first time since 1991, the Milwaukee Bucks qualified for postseason play. The seventh-seeded Bucks went 28-22 and faced off with the Indiana Pacers in the first round. A 33-year-old Reggie Miller still had plenty left in the tank in Indiana.

He proved it against the Bucks, scoring more than 26 points per game in the series. Nobody on Milwaukee’s squad could match that total, although the Bucks’ big three did score effectively together.

Allen averaged 22.3 points per game, Robinson was responsible for 20.7 points per game, and Cassell came in third with 15.3 points per game. Although the stage had been set for later success, it wasn’t time for Milwaukee to make a run quite yet.

Next: 49 years in 49 days: 1997-98 season

The Bucks made it interesting by only losing Game 2 by a single point, but ultimately Miller and the Pacers swept Milwaukee in the three-game series, bringing a swift end to a short season.

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