The proud owners of the new Milwaukee Bucks franchise was Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc. They were headed by Wesley Pavalon and Marvin Fishman.   In 1968, when Milwaukee was trying to name their new professional basketball team, they held a contest for the best name.  45 people suggested "Bucks", the winner said that he thought Bucks was a great basketball team name because they're "good jumpers, fast & agile."  The contest winner was lucky enough to win a new car for his efforts.  In the years since then, they've proven to be all of those things. 

In their first game against the Chicago Bulls, the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a loss.  In the sixth game of that first season, they beat the Detroit Pistons, although they still found themselves at the bottom of the league.  Luckily, they were able to use that to their advantage with the first draft pick for the next season.

Lew Alcindor, better known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, (Alcindor changed his name in 1971 when he converted to Islam.) was the college draft pick that Milwaukee chose.  Drafted in the first round for 1969, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar brought the Bucks from last in the league to second, losing the finals in the fifth to the New York Knicks.  The drastic improvement was an unprecedented achievement, earning Jabbar the honor of NBA Rookie of the Year. 

Through the early 70's, the Bucks improved with the addition of great players.  Some of those players included Oscar Robinson, who helped them make it all the way to 1971's NBA Championship series.  Through the first half of the 70s, the Bucks were an NBA powerhouse.  In 1975, the Bucks made a move that impacted the franchise for years to come.  The surprise was a trade of Jabbar to the Lakers for four players: Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Waters and David Meyers. 

Following the trade, the ownership of the team was strained, leading to the team being sold to Jim Fitzgerald and a group of partners.  New ownership led to great staffing and player choices that continued the momentum for the Bucks.

1980 saw another shift for the Bucks.  After winning the Midwest Division title they became part of the Eastern Conference's Central Division.  In 1985, ownership changed again, this time going to Sen. Herb Kohl, who worked with Jane and Lloyd Pettit to build a new sporting facility for the Bucks in Milwaukee, the Bradley Center.  This would keep the team in Milwaukee and give the city an opportunity to upgrade from the smallest venue in the league. 

Through the 90s, the Milwaukee Bucks were in a time of rebuilding their roster with players that would become essential to their future success.  In 1993, the Bucks celebrated their 25^th Anniversary with a logo change that took them from a friendly cartoon deer to a muscular and more intense buck logo for their uniforms. 

Once the Bucks hired George Karl in 1998, they saw a great improvement in their performance and standings in the league.  Through 2003, Karl was able to drive the Bucks to recruit great talent like Tim Thomas, Sam Cassell and Anthony Mason.  Since that time, Milwaukee has been rebuilding and working to get back to the top of the league.