Being a fan is hard. Sometimes you have to watch countless bad teams take the court and field, only to be completely destroyed on a consistent basis. Other times you have to deal with owners and GMs who are as incompetent as it gets (shoutout James Dolan and the Knicks). One of the worst agonies, however, that a fan can undergo is losing a favorite player. Even though I knew he wasn't conducive to the Bucks consistently winning, a small part of me died watching Brandon Jennings get traded across Lake Michigan to the Pistons, noted collectors of former Bucks. While teams create strong emotions within fans, it's not quite as strong as the bond fans can create with certain players. There have been quite a few players that have made their way through Milwaukee and Green Bay that I have favored more than others. With this in mind Jon, James, and I will give you starting lineups with a few additional spots for our respective teams, filled with players that we loved the most. Please note this is not an all-time lineup. Kareem is one of the best Bucks players in franchise history, but I was -28 when he brought us a championship and he wanted to leave town shortly after. Kareem could never be one of my favorite Bucks players, even though he is much better than someone like John Henson. Sadly, I didn't follow the Bucks a ton until I was in 8th grade/high school, so there are way-way back guys, but hey, it's my list. Now, here is the roster for my favorite Bucks players.
PG: Brandon Jennings
SG: Khris Middleton
SF: Jared Dudley
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
C: Andrew Bogut
Coach: Mike Budenholzer
Bench
PG: Eric Bledsoe
SG: Tony Snell
SF: Carlos Delfino
PF: John Henson
C: Larry Sanders
It's hard not to be fans of the Bucks now. Middleton and Giannis are obvious first team guys with Bledsoe holding up the bench unit. Jennings takes the starting guard spot because he was one of the only truly exciting players on some awful Bucks teams when I started watching. Seven games into his rookie year he dropped 55 points. Every game, he just oozed with swagger which was infectious as a fan. Bogut snags a first team spot barely edging out Sanders (shoutout Larry aka Nappy Gilmore- who follows me on Twitter, no big deal). We took Bogut first overall in 2005 and his run with the Bucks is often forgotten about. He averaged a double-double for 3 straight years while averaging at least 2.5 blocks in two of those years. Newer NBA fans would be shocked at the athleticism he displayed early in his career before his tragic arm injury. He also autographed a jersey for a younger me, which I proudly display (with a boomerang) above my liquor table. Bud was an easy choice, especially if you look back at previous Bucks coaches through the years. Dudley gets the start at SF because of his high IQ and versatility. Dudley was by far not the best player, but when he came off the bench he usually guarded up adequately, shared the ball willingly, and took threes when the opportunity came.
Due to Jennings being my first major favorite Bucks player, Bledsoe gets relegated to the second unit, but has shown tremendous defense, operational offense, and hustle in his time with Milwaukee. He was nice enough to take a selfie with me during Fiserv's initial open house and then dropped this tweet later that day (approximately 2 hours after meeting me). Coincidence???
Snell makes it because he is the perfect role player. Tony played good defense and kept spacing to catch and make threes. Occasionally, he would cut when defenses overplayed him and finished well enough. Delfino was a great 3 point shooter who helped spacing and defended well. John Henson was a great locker room guy, overall very likable person (except in Whitefish Bay), and blossomed towards the end of his Milwaukee tenure as a solid bench piece. He also had the most amazing left hand hook shot I've ever seen. Sanders rounds us out. Larry wasn't very good on offense ever, but he could play defense and even dropped a 10 point, 12 rebound, 10 block night against Minnesota in 2012, albeit in a loss (also one of the worst box scores I've ever seen here). Larry did what he could.
So that's the roster of my personal favorite Bucks players. Yes, I know I didn't put Michael Redd, but his peak years were before I really paid attention to the NBA or even the Bucks. Honorable mention to Mo Williams, Charlie Bell, Jerryd Bayless, and Greg Monroe. So, who are some of your favorite Bucks players of all-time? Let us know in the comments!
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