On Thursday, the Milwaukee Bucks will play a game against the Boston Celtics (8 p.m. ET, TNT) that will likely have the lowest attendance in the league all season, all on a court you haven’t seen before if you’re under the age of 30.
The Bucks are bringing back the historic Mecca floor for game vs. Celtics
The old school Bucks-Celtics rivalry will be revived like no rivalry ever before.
Don’t worry — it’s by design. The Bucks are returning to The Mecca.
This season is the Bucks’ 50th in the NBA, and Thursday’s game is part of their celebration. Milwaukee is a storied franchise who played their first season in 1968-69 and won the Finals two seasons later. It became known for its unique home court known as The Mecca, which hasn’t hosted a Bucks game in nearly three decades.
The Bucks spent 20 seasons in The Mecca — from 1968 to 1988 — where they had a record of 582-209. The arena is now called the UW-Milwaukee Panthers Arena, and it hosts the men’s basketball team for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, as well as other assorted athletic events.
What made The Mecca historic?
Thanks to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee was good almost immediately. In their first season, they won 27 games, but they followed it up with two Finals appearances in the next five seasons, winning the 1971 championship.
From 1980 to 1991, the Bucks made the playoffs every year, coached by basketball legends in Don Nelson and Del Harris. Sidney Moncrief starred for them during this time, as did Jack Sikma. For a majority of those years, The Mecca was their home and hosted all of the stars of the 80s, many in epic playoff duels.
Why are the Celtics important?
Boston was one of Milwaukee’s greatest rivals in the Eastern Conference. Larry Bird once devastated them on the iconic floor.
The Bucks almost perfectly replicated The Mecca floor.
The floor was so iconic, it had an ESPN 30 for 30 short created about it.
Long story short: Construction workers pulled apart the Mecca floor and were looking to sell it, either as a piece of a historic basketball court or hardwood that could be repurposed for any use. But a diehard Milwaukee fan maxed out his $20,000 credit card to buy the floor, then resold it to the Bucks organization.
The Bucks had the floor recreated by Prostar Surfaces, and it will be played on for one game and one game only.
Here’s what it will look like on Thursday.
What other historic events happened at The Mecca?
The Lakers won 33 straight games during the 1971-72 season, but the streak came to an end against the Bucks on the floor of The Mecca. Likewise, Julius Erving scored his 20,000th point in Milwaukee at this arena. It wasn’t the NBA, but Doc Rivers hit a 30-foot buzzer beater to beat Notre Dame back in 1981.
How else will the Bucks go back in time?
Milwaukee has special retro jerseys that they’ll wear for the game.
Why should I watch the game?
Besides Giannis Antetokounmpo, it should be an incredible atmosphere to see an NBA game played in front of a tight crowd of only 10,000 people and on a court that looks so quintessential to the 1980s.
Oh, and Kyrie Irving already doesn’t like the floor.
The game is at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
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