Before the Bucks

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While debates over the National Basketball Association’s future in Milwaukee will likely continue for some time, it’s worth noting that the Bucks were not the city’s first entry in the league. It was more than 60 years ago that an outspoken owner, a finicky fan base and one of the worst franchises in NBA history made for a largely forgotten chapter in city sports history.

The NBA was just two seasons old when the league sought to disband the Tri-Cities Blackhawks franchise out of Moline, Ill. The Blackhawks had been one of the original 17 NBA franchises to begin play in 1949. Six of those teams were dropped as unprofitable for the 1950-51 season and for the ’51-’52 season, the league wanted to drop the lethargic Tri-Cities franchise as well.

Ben Kerner, who made his money in printing and had lost plenty of it in pro basketball, owned the Blackhawks. But Kerner badly wanted to stay in the game. He received a vital assist in the summer of 1951 from Max Winter, owner of the powerful Minneapolis Lakers. The elimination of the Blackhawks would leave the Lakers as the NBA’s western outpost, with the closest franchise nearly 500 miles away in the Fort Wayne Pistons. The previous season, Winter’s Lakers had played two well-attended neutral site games at the newly built Milwaukee Arena (now the Milwaukee Panther Arena). Enlisting Miller Brewing to pledge $30,000 for the rights to sponsor their radio broadcasts, Kerner and Winter secured the NBA’s approval and announced the franchise’s shift to Milwaukee in September 1951.

The new Milwaukee Hawks made their debut on Nov. 3, losing in the final minute to the New York Knicks; 6,743 people braved the frigid night to attend. The Hawks played just 14 more games of the 66-game schedule at the Arena. The last-minute revival of the franchise left a limited number of available dates at the venue. Six more games were played at the next-door Milwaukee Auditorium (now the Milwaukee Theater) and a twenty more on the road at neutral sites. Even with the lopsided schedule, the Hawks attracted good crowds in Milwaukee, ranking fifth of the NBA’s 10 teams in attendance. The team found much less success on the hardwood, however, finishing dead last with a 17-49 record.

But there was cause for hope heading into the 1952-’53 season. Miller renewed its sponsorship. The Hawks secured the services of All-American center Mark Workman with the NBA’s top draft pick and hosted 24 home games that year, including three doubleheaders with the Harlem Globetrotters.

For the ’52-’53 season, the Hawks improved by 10 wins, but still finished in last place. Worse yet, the enthusiasm from their inaugural year had worn off and owner Kerner was losing money. He chided the Arena’s directors for charging $1,000 per game in rental fees, complaining in April 1953 that the county was charging the newly relocated Milwaukee Braves the same amount for the entire season’s rent at County Stadium.

Kerner was not one to keep his opinions or emotions hidden. His sideline behavior, stomping his feet and berating referees for bad calls, earned him several fines. After one close loss in Milwaukee, he was fined for forcing his way into the referee’s dressing room to protest a call against the Hawks. Another incident involved his throwing a chair at a referee.

After securing two nationally televised games for Milwaukee and a pledge by local business leaders to sell 1,000 season tickets, the Hawks stayed put for the 1953-’54 season. But the team was another dud, finishing in the cellar and averaging just 2,000 fans per game. During the 1954 off-season, Kerner again said he was losing money and began to solicit local buyers for the team.

Unable to find buyers, Kerner instead settled for a team stock sale to raise capital. Although the Hawks continued to struggle during the 1954-’55 season, finishing again in last place, the roster featured future Hall of Famer Bob Pettit and future all-stars Frank Selvy and Bob Harrison. The play of these young stars drew crowds as large as 5,000 to the arena, but Milwaukee had limited chances to see their Hawks that year. Kerner’s battles with the Arena’s management resulted in just 17 home games of the 72 the Hawks played, with 30 games played at neutral sites. Over the final three months of the season, the Hawks made just four appearances in Milwaukee. They were such a foreign entity that when they played their final game on March 14, a 15 point win over Philadelphia, the Milwaukee Sentinel didn’t even bother to report the final score.

Within a month of the end of the ’54-’55 season, backers in St. Louis were making advances to Kerner. In May, with pledges for 600 season tickets secured, the league approved Kerner’s shift to Missouri. The team was an immediate contender in St. Louis, advancing the NBA finals in their second season and winning the title in their third. But the glory that might have been Milwaukee’s was also fleeting for St. Louis. After 13 seasons in the city, 12 playoff appearances, and five trips to the finals, Kerner sold the Hawks to an Atlanta-based group who promptly relocated the team. He blamed the St. Louis fans for the lack of interest in the team. “Atlanta,” the Milwaukee Journal wrote in reference to the Braves’ move south the year before, “seems to get so much of what we had first.”

The Hawks’ first season in Atlanta was also the inaugural season for the Milwaukee Bucks. As had the St. Louis Hawks, the Bucks won the league title in just their third year of existence. And, just like the Hawks, they have not won one since.