A year of 'Building the Milwaukee Bucks'

Today marks a year since my book, Building the Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Rapid Rise of an NBA Franchise, 1968-1975, was made available for everyone to read and to purchase. And in some rare instances, that has meant seeing my book in physical stores in and outside of Milwaukee.

Over the last year, I’ve done podcast appearances, book signings and appearances at book festivals to talk about the book and the process of seeing the book go from combing over newspaper clippings, reading books, writing drafts to seeing it all in print. I’ve met a number of Bucks fans both young and old that have said nice things about the book and came away with learning more about how the Bucks were formed and the principal figures that established the franchise from the moment they entered the NBA.

Shining the spotlight on names like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge and Larry Costello was equal to doing so for Marvin Fishman, Wesley Pavalon, Wayne Embry and so on. And there was the Milwaukee of it all and why the Bucks being born as an expansion team came at the exact time the city needed to resuscitate their image as a sports city after the departure of the Milwaukee Braves. 

I’m writing this not only to share my thank you to all of those that have bought a copy of the book. It has meant the world to me that people still care about my work. I’ve spent most of my adult life writing and talking about the Bucks in some fashion. And over that time, I’ve clung to the ambition of being able to cover the team for a full-time gig for years now. I’ve had to make hard decisions over the last year-plus and face the reality that it’s not likely to happen, despite efforts to find that kind of role. This last year saw the end to the long-running podcast I co-hosted — Win in 6 — and that has further driven home that point for me.

Even so, I’m writing this knowing that I will spend this decade writing and researching Bucks history. Not just for this book, but the second book I’m currently working on. If the first one was about why the Bucks were important to Milwaukee and their image as a sports city during the late 1960s and the early 1970s, this next one will cover…why the Bucks were important to Milwaukee as a city during the 1980s when the franchise was put up for sale by former owner Jim Fitzgerald. Trust me, it’s just the tip of the iceberg, not to keep hyping it up.

The last year has been life changing in the way I feel validated for going so deep into this level of work to shine a light on a team and a city that’s worth shining a light on. It’s what keeps me going, especially when the words are hard to come by and I hit a wall. If this is the closest I come to being able to cover or be associated with Bucks coverage in some way, then I’ll take it. It’s opened enough doors for me and I’m grateful for every one of them.

If you still haven’t gotten your copy of my book, you’re in luck. I’ll be selling plenty of copies (hopefully) at the MKE Books & Beers Book Fair on August 25 in the Deer District, fittingly. And I will be selling them at a much more affordable price than you can find online at the moment. You can hold me to that.

Again, thank you for reading Building the Milwaukee Bucks and supporting my work in uncovering Bucks history.