Milwaukee Bucks: Meet the 1970s All-Decade Team

Milwaukee Bucks: Meet the 1970’s All-Decades Team – Marques Johnson

After the dealing of Abdul-Jabbar in the summer of 1975, the Bucks were in need of a critical cornerstone to build around to lift them out of their rebuilding phase in the mid-70s. Thankfully, another UCLA Bruin would be at the center of their transformation late into the decade.

Selected with the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft, Johnson entered the NBA and immediately became the centralizing force under legendary head coach Don Nelson. Johnson’s incredibly wide-ranging skill set made him the perfect player for Nelson’s inventiveness and forward-thinking tactics over their respective times in Milwaukee.

It was early on in Johnson’s time in Milwaukee where his polished scoring was on full display and catapulted him to earning his first All-Star berth during his sophomore season in 1978-79, along with taking All-NBA First Team honors for the only time in his career.

Of course, the Bucks, Nelson and Johnson went on to bigger and better things as they built out their foundation around the do-it-all forward going into the 1980s. And it all helped them to bridge different eras with minimal pain along the way.

All throughout his 524 appearances with the Bucks, Johnson averaged 21 points on .530/.145/.736 shooting splits, 7.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals across 34.8 minutes per contests.