It took them 50 years but Milwaukee’s NBA franchise finally won its second championship after numerous teams failed to get there.
When I lived there near my waning years at Marquette, I grew to be a fan through my part-time job in the sports department of the Milwaukee Sentinel, now merged with the dying Journal. I didn’t really cheer for them out of spite for Da’ Bulls. My job, meeting the guy who covered the team (back then, Rick Braun) and having better access led to me learning a lot more about the NBA and how underrated the team was. The head coach’s daughter (Dell Harris) was also a resident in the dorm I worked in. I’ll let her name be a secret from the site, but I do have an amusing anecdote regarding her and her boyfriend at the time. It’s nothing bad or in poor taste. Dell’s daughter was a very nice person and I think she preferred to be anonymous at Marquette.
I continued to cheer for the Bucks until I moved to Austin. Gradually the Spurs won me over yet the Bucks remained a sometimes favorite with the Eastern Conference I left behind. The Spurs winning my loyalty was too hard of a sell. What little I do understand, both teams played a similar game or strategy in the Nineties; work your way into the paint and score the shorter basket while drawing a foul. I have no clue how the Bucks play anymore, I do know the Spurs’ coach Popovich isn’t a fan of the three-point offensive plan. I agree, just throwing the ball up for three-pointers is how people on the playground play.
However, it’s time for Milwaukee to shine. My old university home deserves a positivity from the spotlight. It lacks an NFL and NHL team. It lives in the shadow of Chicago, a tough act to follow from many angles. It hasn’t been an important place for decades and sadly it’s declining as cities in warmer climates are growing faster. Even if it’s only until late October, Milwaukee can bask in the goal of basketball supremacy. I hope they enjoy it while they can. I suspect the Lakers, Clippers and Warriors finding a way to correct what went wrong.