MILWAUKEE — "The original Buck" Jon McGlocklin played on the 1971 NBA Championship team and the last Bucks team to make the Finals in 1974. He then was a commentator on Bucks broadcasts for many years. This is a man who knows Bucks history and knows this team is special.
“This team’s really together, and it’s talented, and they have one great star," said McGlocklin. "Our 80’s teams had a multiple group of stars, but no one quite of Giannis’s level. I think the fact that they’ve got this great superstar, and then the rest of them play into that well. They like each other, they get along well. They like their coaches. I think that’s what’s critical."
McGlocklin is enjoying watching the Bucks playoff games and the excitement they've generated in the Deer District and around the state.
“I care a lot about the Milwaukee Bucks franchise because it’s family," said McGlocklin. "My wife and I were the first players to come into town in 1968, in the summer. I’m considered the original Buck and I value that greatly. Playoffs, my wife and I have been in front of that TV the entire time. We love the cutaway shots of the fans. When we won the championship, our building seated just over 11,000. They have double that in the Deer District now.”
The loss in the 1974 Finals to the Celtics with a Game 7 at home still haunts McGlocklin.
“I’m still not over it," admitted McGlocklin. "I was hurt. Oscar was hurt. We played. No one knew we were hurt. That doesn’t go into the record book. We lost. That one sticks to me but getting there twice, a guy like me who’s just a player, was thrilling.”
Jonny Mac has some life advice for the current Bucks.
“You may never do this again. It’s going to the mountaintop. Theirs nothing bigger in your sport than that. Savor it all, but give every single ounce of mental and physical capability that you have. Leave nothing out there because it will be with you the rest of your life.”
Jon McGlocklin, still a Bucks guy through and through.