The Bucks opened two title defenses with wins on October 23: in 1971 at Philadelphia and in 2021 at San Antonio. This year the date brings a home opener against the Bulls, for a team rebuilt around Tyler Herro and still looking for its first win.
1968
The franchise began as an expansion club. Judges picked the name Bucks over the more popular Robins from more than 40,000 contest entries, and the first regular-season game drew 8,467 to Milwaukee Arena. Three seasons later the club had Lew Alcindor, won in a coin flip, and Oscar Robertson, acquired by trade. That team went 66-16 and swept Baltimore for the 1971 title.
October 23, 1971
The defending champions opened that night in Philadelphia and won 110-88. It is the oldest game this club has played on this date, and it marks what Milwaukee used to be: a title team that started the next season expecting to win. That standard stayed into the Don Nelson years, when he was Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985 and his team swept the Celtics in 1983.
October 23, 2021
Fifty years after the first title, Milwaukee again opened a title defense on this date, winning 121-111 at San Antonio after Giannis Antetokounmpo's 2021 championship. Three years later, on October 23, 2024, the Bucks won 124-109 at Philadelphia. Of the six games the club has played on this date, the only loss came in 1976, 111-107 at home to Boston.
This summer
The era behind those wins ended June 23, when Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis went to Miami for Herro, Jaquez Jr., Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis. Brayden Burries and Nate Ament arrived in the draft at 10th and 13th. Taylor Jenkins, hired April 30, took over a club that went 32-50 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17.
Tonight
The Bucks are 0-1 after a 128-116 loss at Washington, and Chicago won an exhibition here on October 14, 125-104. The Bulls will be without Nic Claxton. Nothing on this date in the club's history looks like tonight: no defending champion, no settled star, and a roster mostly a few months old. Fiserv Forum gets its first regular-season look at what Jenkins is building.
When did the Bucks win their NBA championships?
Milwaukee won titles in 1971, in its third season, and in 2021. It is the only franchise to win a championship in both the Western and Eastern Conference.
What is the Bucks' record on October 23?
Before tonight, Milwaukee was 5-1 in games played on October 23. The only loss was 111-107 at home to Boston in 1976.
