The start of something new...

Welcome to Milwaukee Hoops History! My name is Jordan Treske and if you have followed my work at all over the last decade, you probably have the idea that I like writing about the Milwaukee Bucks. Like, a lot. 

Just last year, my first book, ‘Building the Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Rapid Rise of an NBA Franchise, 1968-1975,’ was published by McFarland & Co. It’s something that I’m really proud of and I have been working hard on a follow up that will hopefully see the light of day sometime soon.

I probably have spent too much time thinking, writing and podcasting about the Bucks, to the point where I can’t really turn it off. Even as my fandom has changed over the years as I have sought to make a hobby of writing and podcasting about the Bucks a more serious pursuit. Over the last few seasons, keeping up with all the day-to-day business that’s necessary to cover the team has gotten a lot more difficult. Priorities have shifted and to be honest, there are better people on the job covering this current iteration of the Bucks — shoutout to the Gyro Step boys!

Fatherhood has stretched time thinner than I initially thought. Perhaps it was naive of me to think otherwise, on top of tending to a day job. Yet, I can’t quite shake the itch. I really love writing about the Bucks, I love writing about the history of the team about and about basketball as a whole. Writing about Milwaukee's basketball culture is important to me in ways that I hope is important to you.

And that leads me to this newsletter, Milwaukee Hoops History.

Why should you subscribe?

For someone who subscribes to a number of newsletters from writers who I enjoy and am inspired by, adding another newsletter to your mix is a good way for that inbox to get cluttered.

By subscribing to Milwaukee Hoops History, you’ll get your fix of Bucks history and most importantly, the history of basketball here in Milwaukee. Think of this as a museum of sorts and I’m your curator. I pride myself on doing in-depth research and I hope that shows in the work too. If anybody has read Cliff Christl's work in covering the Green Bay Packers, that's a primary inspiration for how I'd like to write about the Bucks.

This website will also be a one-stop shop to keep up to date with any events I have planned to promote my book and my writing. The grind never stops in book promotion and I’ve really enjoyed being able to meet people in person and talk about our favorite basketball team.

Most importantly, this newsletter will be free to read. As written media has become increasingly paywalled on the internet and rightfully so, I am going the other way and want to keep this available for everyone to read. I find it very important to try and get as many eyeballs on what I do in the hopes of it leading to an opportunity, whether that’s connecting with readers, doing interviews, book sales and whatever else might arise. 

If you are someone who enjoys my work, you can always support what I do by buying a copy of my book! Either way, I appreciate any and all support I’d get by a free subscription.

What should I expect from Milwaukee Hoops History?

Through the years of researching newspapers, reading vintage books and magazines and the fair share of Bucks memorabilia I have picked up over the years, I have decades of stuff on file that I regularly go through. There are a number of stories that are waiting to be fleshed out further that didn’t make my first book and might not make my next book, either.

I know that this is the best platform to share those stories and it’s important to know that it will go beyond the Bucks. After all, the Bucks are the second NBA team in Milwaukee’s history — shoutout to those Milwaukee Hawks. And the sport would not have found its footing here without the college route, either. 

At this point, I just enjoy writing about the significance of Milwaukee’s basketball history and the many figures and events that have helped shape it. Whereas the greater focus of NBA history, for example, is told about teams playing on either coasts or focusing solely on individuals rather than the teams they play for, I want to shine a light on a city like Milwaukee that continually doesn’t get its due for being a proud basketball city.

To stay up to date with my work and (hopefully) future projects, please consider subscribing to Milwaukee Hoops History!