RACINE, Wis. — You never know who your neighbors are: Racine resident Daniel Cunegin was a part of the Bucks 1971 championship team and has the ring to prove it. 

“I played on the farm team, and someone got hurt during the championship and I moved up to the Bucks,” Cunegin said.

Cunegin said when he was still playing professionally, the league didn't have a formalized minor league, instead using farm teams that played under the professional NBA teams. 

“My fraternity brother was coaching that team,” Cunegin said. “First, he was an assistant coach for UW-M. Then he was a scout for the Bucks; then they had the farm team.”

With a long list of scoring records from playing  basketball in his hometown of Gary, Ind. and in Racine, Cunegin got the chance of a lifetime to add a few more achievements to his resume.

"I didn’t get on the court, but I sat on the bench,” he said. “It was a great feeling, just to be a part of that."

The team’s championship run is a part of Bucks history that Cunegin said he will always cherish being a part of.

“We won the city championship, the world championship, and I got the ring to prove it,” Cunegin said.

With a front-row seat at a watch party in Racine Wednesday night, Cunegin said to see Milwaukee win another championship would be a dream come true.

“It's great— it's tremendous,” he said. “As long as they can play together, as long as they can share the ball and do the things necessary to win, I think they can do it.”

Cunegin shared some last words of advice from a man who's seen a championship win firsthand.

“Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do,” he said. “If you can believe it, you can achieve it.”