Building the Milwaukee Bucks

Jordan Treske's book chronicles how the Milwaukee Bucks went from an expansion franchise in 1968 to NBA champions in 1971, examining ownership, coaching, and key players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson.

It situates the team's success within Milwaukee's social and civic context during the late 1960s and early 1970s, including civil unrest and the city's search for major-league identity.

The book draws on contemporary reporting, player and executive perspectives, and archival material to tell a compact institutional history of the franchise's founding years.

Treske emphasizes personality dynamics—between players, coach Larry Costello, GM Wayne Embry, and owners Marvin Fishman and Wes Pavlon—and how those relationships shaped the team's trajectory.

The work aims to recover the Bucks' early story and Kareem's complicated relationship with Milwaukee often overlooked in broader NBA histories.