In the late 1960s, the NBA was growing in popularity and, as a result, began to expand.  With the help of Wesley Pavalon and Marvin Fishman of Milwaukee Professional Sports and Services, Inc., Wisconsin earned consideration to house a new NBA franchise.  In 1968, the NBA agreed to bring a team to Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Bucks were born.

On this day, October 16th, in 1968, The Milwaukee Bucks played their first ever NBA game.  The game was played in front of  a relatively small crowd of 8,467 against the Chicago Bulls.  The Bucks lost the game and went on to have a tough first season, only winning 26 games.

After earning the first overall pick in the 1969 draft, the Bucks greatly increased their success and  became a surprisingly competitive franchise. In 1971, the Bucks won their first NBA championship behind star performances from future Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Lew Alcindor, who would later become known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.