Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest ‘what ifs’ during the Bucks’ 1970s run

What if Dr. J was a Buck?

Arguably the biggest ‘what if’ in the scope of the franchise, the Bucks losing out on Hall of Fame forward Julius Erving in 1972 could have have single-handedly changed that era in an instant.

For those not in the know, the Bucks had selected Erving with the 12th overall pick in the 1972 NBA Draft.

Erving, who had already been a star in the ABA with the Virginia Squires the previous year, had illegally signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks right before the draft after he discovered his agent, Steve Arnold, had not acted in his best financial interests as he was being compensated by the ABA and the Squires at the time of negotiating Erving’s deal.

Trying to make the switch to the NBA, a major legal struggle between the Bucks, the Hawks and the ABA ensued and Erving was intent on playing for the Hawks for the 1972-73 season. Still, the illegal nature of the deal left Embry steaming:

"“As far as the by-laws of the National Basketball Association go, the rights to Julius Erving belong to the Milwaukee Bucks-it’s as clear cut as that.”"

With the Bucks having the trump card of holding the draft rights to Erving, there was a palpable fear that they would became an even greater superpower than they were with Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge and Robertson. Chicago Bulls head coach Dick Motta was blunt about what it would mean if Erving went to Milwaukee as Sports Illustrated relayed in October of 1972:

"“The Bucks also have the NBA draft rights to Julius Erving who, some scouts think, is at worst the best offensive forward since Elgin Baylor. Erving is likely to return to the ABA, but the courts could still assign him to Milwaukee. ‘If they put him on the Bucks, this is going to be the most boring league ever,’ says Chicago Coach Dick Motta.”"

With the Hawks getting fined for Erving’s appearances in exhibition games, the NBA stepped in and said Erving belonged to the Bucks. The Hawks remained defiant, filing an antitrust suit towards the league, but the federal court eventually ruled that Erving had to honor his contract with the Squires and continue playing in the ABA. The Bucks eventually were compensated with a pair of draft picks and $100,000 from Atlanta.

Embry discussed the whole ordeal with The Athletic’s Eric Nehm ($) in February of 2019, including pursuing Erving a second time after the ABA-NBA merger and who the Bucks took with one of the picks from the Hawks:

"“It was disturbing, but I still think it was worth the risk. If he could come, we’d be the Boston Celtics of the ’50s and ’60s and won a string of championships. I learned later one of the reasons why he didn’t want to come to Milwaukee was because we already had Oscar and Kareem. We tried to sign him after the ABA folded, since we held his rights, and that was when his agent informed me then. Atlanta signed him illegally and the league penalized them. Atlanta gave us cash and two second-round picks. With one of those picks, we drafted another Hall of Famer with one of those picks, Alex English.”"

It goes without saying just how transformative of a quartet Abdul-Jabbar, Dandridge, Erving and Robertson could have been, had the Bucks’ drafting of Dr. J been honored. Ultimately, the presence of Erving could have extended an incredibly prosperous era of Bucks basketball and potentially prevented them from trading away Abdul-Jabbar, versus how it all quickly ended following the trip to the 1974 NBA Finals.

Alas, we’ll never know and it’s a part of what makes the Bucks’ golden era such a fascinating period to relive and rediscover time and time again.