All is quiet on the Western front, with the Milwaukee Bucks roster all but finalized, outside of some pending training camp drama. Although there may not be much to discuss at present, there are other ways to stay involved in the sport we all love. For me, that’s the joy of collecting cards.
It all started when I was seven years old, as a wide-eyed Chicago Cubs fan (editor’s note: Go Brewers!) who was excited about getting a team set of that 2007 squad. I even had a binder with a front page that could only be described as “graphic design is my passion:” rainbow letters with a drop shadow and a Cubs logo at the bottom to boot. That measly start began a lifelong passion that has gone through its waves (less so now with rent and bills to pay). Yet, through my own gift money and the kindness of those closest to me, I have slowly built my collection of sports cards, which has grown to over 3,000 total cards.
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Although I’d love to go over every card and talk about a 2007 Topps Upper Deck Aaron Harang card from his days on the Cincinnati Reds or a 1981 Fleer Bob Stanley (pitcher for the Boston Red Sox), a) this article would be full fledged series lasting weeks if not months and b) this is a basketball website. I have a suspicion that most of you readers out here would be more interested in the legendary hoopers I’ve tucked away in plastic casings. Much to the chagrin of one of our editors, Morgan, I will not be chopping these little wonders and using them in my waffle sandwiches for breakfast (long story). Instead, I will share what I have with the rest of you. Without further ado, here are all the former and current Bucks who reside in my card collection.
Bucks Legends
I wouldn’t be doing my job as your new beat writer if I didn’t write this article about the players who have worn green, cream, and maybe even red. Of the 162 basketball cards I have (yes, my collection is heavily slanted towards baseball), 19 of them are current or former Milwaukee Bucks’ players. I’ll split them up into three different eras to define their part of Bucks history:
Pre-Giannis Era
It’s hard to think of a time for the Bucks before the generational talent of Giannis Antetokounmpo graced the courts of Milwaukee. Yet, there are some gems to be found in looking back at the BBG (Bucks Before Giannis). Of the 19 Bucks cards I started with, five of them are of the prestigious BBG group. Starting with the earliest player I have, we go back to the eighth overall pick from the 1993 NBA draft and current Bucks assistant coach Vin Baker.
This card was made after Baker’s fourth season in the league, coming off his third All-Star appearance. In 78 games, Baker averaged 21 points, 10.3 rebounds, and made the All-NBA Third Team. This would end up being his last season with Milwaukee, as a trade sent him to Seattle to replace Shawn Kemp (shipped off to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the deal). The Bucks finished 33-49, 11 games behind the Washington Bullets for the 8th seed, and 21 back of the Charlotte Hornets, who finished fourth in the Central Division. Looking back on it now, he was one of the most underrated Bucks players of all time.
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Staying in the 20th century, we have a player who had yet to play for the Bucks: New Jersey Nets guard Sam Cassell (and who, by some reports, was almost a Bucks assistant coach).
This card came in a year when Cassell played for three different teams in one season, starting with the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in December. He finally made his way to the Nets in February of 1997, in the deal that sent Shawn Bradley and Robert Pack (among others) to the Mavericks for Cassell, Jim Jackson, and three other players. Cassell eventually got to Milwaukee near the turn of the millennium in 1999 in a three-team, three-player trade, with Stephon Marbury going to the Nets and Terrell Brandon to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
I couldn’t believe that I almost missed a top-5 player in Milwaukee Bucks history during my search. The other half that made up that backcourt with Cassell was the former UConn Huskie Ray Allen (pictured here much later in his career with the Miami Heat).
The Bucks traded for Allen on draft night in 1997. He spent 6 1/2 seasons with the Bucks and blossomed into an All-Star level player. He made three All-Star teams and the All-NBA third team in 2000-01, the same year that he led Milwaukee to the conference finals. It was their first conference finals appearance since 1986 and helped the Bucks win their first conference finals game since 1984. His tenure ended in the middle of the 2002-03 season, when he, Kevin Ollie, Ronlad Murray, and a conditional first round pick were sent to the Seattle SuperSonics for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason.
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The next three are all players who just missed out on playing with Giannis and were part of those early 2010s squads before he was drafted there. Andrew Bogut was the No. 1 overall pick back in the 2005 draft and was supposed to be the superstar the Bucks were looking for, but he never even made an All-Star game in his 14-year career. Bogut departed Milwaukee heading into the 2012 season, where he would win a title with the Golden State Warriors (the card here is from the season before that). Next up, we have Giannis’ favorite player ever, Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy spent two years in Milwaukee as part of his Central Division Tour, playing with the Indiana Pacers before that and the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers after that time. The last one here is Carlos Delfino. The Argentine forward had a relatively short NBA career, playing eight seasons before injuries derailed his second stint with the Bucks when he signed with them in 2013. Despite that, his best ball came with the Bucks from 2009-2012 where he averaged 10.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.3 SPG, shooting 40.1% from the field and 36.6% from three-point range.
Pre-Title Era
The largest part of my Bucks collection comes from the players who made up the squads that didn’t quite reach the mountain top, with a couple of exceptions (which we’ll get to soon enough). Of the 19 I have, nine of them come from this era between 2013-2020 while Giannis and the Bucks rose from an irrelevant franchise to a perrnial title contender.
Startine with the earliest player in this crop, Ersan Ilyasova was the prototypical stretch four who played in Milwaukee in 2006 before spending two years overseas to come back to play in 2009 at 22-years-old. He spent six seasons with the Bucks before making a return tour for two seasons in 2018 and 2019. I don’t really have to say much about the legend that was Tony Snell in Milwaukee; his zero statline will live forever in meme history. George Hill and Malcom Brogdon brought steady point guard play before Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard made their way to the Cream City. Then we have a couple of guys who spent their final years in the NBA with the Bucks, sharpshooters Kyle Korver and Steve Novak (now a rotational color-commentator and analyst for Fan Duel Sports Network Wisconsin for Bucks games). We also have Giannis’ fellow 2013 draft class member in Nate Wolters who spent a year and a half with the Bucks in his four year NBA career.
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Now for those exceptions I was talking about. Obvisouly, Brook Lopez was an integral piece of the Bucks title run and the culture under Mike Budenholzer. Brook spent seven seasons in Milwaukee after a one year stay with the Los Angeles Lakers in the D’Angelo Russell trade. Now Brook finds himself back in LA, as the backup to Ivica Zubac with the Clippers. The other one is Wesley Matthews, who spent 2019-20 with the Bucks and then returned the year after the title run in 2022-23. A reliable 3&D player, Matthews became a fan favorite for some of his clutch buckets.
Current Era
We now come to the modern era of Bucks basketball. There are only four players to go over in this mix. My absolute pride and joy is, of course, my Giannis rookie card. I’m going to hold onto this card for as long as I can, simply for the bragging rights of having a Giannis rookie card. I can’t remember when I got this, but it was safe to say I was more excited about getting LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki than some random dude named Giannis. The last three cards here are all players who just played with the Bucks last season. Of course Damian Lillard was the big trade aqusition prior to the 2023 season, while Kyle Kuzma and Kevin Porter Jr. were acquired at this past year’s trade deadline.
I want to thank you all for taking a trip down memory lane with me as we looked through the Bucks in my basketball card collection. Let me know what cards you all have in your stockpiles in the comments below. I’d love to connect with my fellow collectors.