Even the casual Bucks historian can tell you that none of them played basketball with greater intensity than Sidney Moncrief did during the 10 seasons he wore that uniform.
Moncrief's focus and his drive were so relentless that it never occurred to him how intense he truly was until just recently -- more than 20 years after the Bucks retired his jersey No. 4 and raised it to the Bradley Center rafters.
"When you're playing, it just comes naturally," Moncrief said of his intensity. "I recently released a book and slide show. I put together a lot of photos and photos of articles for it.
"When I looked at my face in almost all of those pictures, I always saw that look of sheer intensity and competition. I never noticed that during the time that I was playing."
Milwaukee fans won't see "that look" again on the court, but they can look forward to seeing its one-and-only owner on the Bucks' bench the next time they take the court as Moncrief is the latest addition to Scott Skiles' coaching staff.
Moncrief is one of just seven Milwaukee Bucks -- Oscar Robertson, Junior Bridgeman, Jon McGlocklin, Bob Lanier, Brian Winters and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the others -- who has had his jersey retired by the franchise.
When Moncrief makes his debut as a Bucks assistant at the Bradley Center, his trademark intensity probably won't allow him to gaze up at his No. 4 up in the rafters.
He has, however, taken the time since his playing days ended to acknowledge and appreciate his elite status. He enjoyed revisiting Milwaukee to be recognized as one of the 20 members of the franchise's 40th anniversary team.
"I think the older you get, the more reflective you become about your jersey retirement," Moncrief said. "The number of jerseys that have been retired by the Bucks -- and the number of jerseys retired by each team in the NBA -- is small, so it's a big honor."
One of the key components that allowed Moncrief to attain such an honor was instilled in him early and often.
"The discipline that I experienced both within my household and during my career has been instrumental in my life," he said. "It's helped me overcome things both on and off the basketball court.
"I had a rule that no one should work harder than me."
Moncrief was born in Little Rock, Ark., and starred there for Hall High School before moving on to the University of Arkansas. Playing under coach Eddie Sutton and assistant coach Gene Keady, Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph became known as "The Triplets" and in 1978 led the Razorbacks to their first Final Four in 33 years.
Moncrief became Arkansas' all-time leading scorer, earned first-team All-American honors as a senior and was chosen with the fifth overall selection in the 1979 National Basketball Association Draft by the Bucks.
He had no idea what to expect when he learned where he would be starting his pro career.
"Being an Arkansas guy, I knew absolutely nothing about Milwaukee," Moncrief said. "I had to look it up to find out exactly where it was and learn about it. But I adjust pretty well to different places."
Moncrief's transition from college to the NBA and from Arkansas to Wisconsin was facilitated by a number of his first pro teammates.
"Junior and Doris Bridgeman became two of my wife and I's best friends," Moncrief said. "They were very instrumental in welcoming us to Milwaukee and making us feel comfortable. Harvey Catchings and others also helped us make the transition."
Moncrief's teammates and their wives weren't the only people who rolled out the welcome mat to him in Milwaukee.
"We always had a great fan base in Milwaukee," Moncrief said. "I had a special, natural connection with Milwaukee. I learned quickly that the people are hard-working, loyal and believe in family, and that's everything that I embrace. It was a natural fit."
The 6-foot-4 inch, 181-pound guard averaged 8.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists in his first pro season and was an NBA All-Rookie Second-Team selection, and his numbers improved substantially over the next three seasons.
Following the 1982-83 campaign, Moncrief became the original recipient of the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and earned his second of four consecutive berths on the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He repeated as NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1983-84.
Moncrief's defensive prowess became so renowned that some lost sight of his all-around excellence. He was named first-team All-NBA after the 1982-83 season and was an NBA All-Star in five consecutive years.
As a collegian and young pro, Moncrief's greatest effectiveness on offense was as a slasher who attacked the basket fearlessly and effectively, developed a knack for drawing fouls and shot better than 80 percent from the free-throw line.
Hours of diligent work improved Moncrief's perimeter shot both quickly and dramatically. He shot better than 52.3 percent from the field in his second through fourth NBA seasons and finished his career with shooting percentages of 50.4 percent from the field and 83.2 percent from the free-throw line.
"Considering the fact that I averaged almost 16 points per game for my career and was an All-Star several times, I like to consider myself a total player," Moncrief said. "The defensive part came because when I was in college with Coach (Eddie) Sutton, we practiced defense 75 percent of the time.
"Don Nelson took my college defensive ability and helped me become a pro defender, which is a totally different thing. Our Bucks teams had a great team defensive scheme that enabled me to make the most of my abilities."
The concept of team figured prominently in Moncrief's career.
With players such as Marques Johnson, Lanier, Bridgeman, Winters, Dave Meyers and Quinn Buckner and later Terry Cummings, Paul Pressey, Ricky Pierce, Craig Hodges and Jack Sikma surrounding Moncrief, the Bucks enjoyed enormous success.
They were Midwest Division champions in his rookie season, then captured six consecutive Central Division titles. They made the NBA Playoffs in each of his 10 seasons and posted the third-highest winning percentage in the league during the 1980s.
"We had a good group," Moncrief said. "We had some players. The hallmark is that they were smart. They had high basketball IQs and a strong commitment to win. As my career passed, that became obvious.
"We just had a lot of focus. We had difficult training camps at Carroll College in Waukesha. We had a lot of chalkboard sessions and practiced very hard. We all wanted team goals. We all tried to prove ourselves in an effort to get more minutes, but we did it within the confines of the system."
Moncrief became a team player in the community as well.
"I loved doing things in the community, and I wish I could have done more in the community there," he said. "The Milwaukee Bucks organization has always been committed to outreach. Milwaukee's not a small town, but it does have a strong sense of community and you can make an impact there."
Few NBA players had a greater impact on more team success during the 1980s than Moncrief did with the Bucks. Milwaukee never made it to the NBA's pinnacle during the decade, but Moncrief never regretted remaining a Bucks fixture for 10 seasons.
"I could've gone to Los Angeles or New York," Moncrief said, "But I wouldn't have traded my years in Milwaukee for a championship ring anywhere else."
Moncrief finished his Bucks playing career in 1989. Among Milwaukee's career leaders, he ranks third in scoring (11,594 points), eighth in field goals made (4,000), first in free throws made (3,505), second in games played (695), seventh in rebounds (3,447), second in assists (2,689), second in minutes played (22,054) and third in steals (874).
Moncrief played one more NBA season with the Atlanta Hawks in 1990-91 before retiring as a player. He entered the coaching ranks nine years later, serving as head coach at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock for one season.
From there, Moncrief rejoined Nelson as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks from 2000-03, served as head coach of the National Basketball Development League's Fort Worth Flyers in 2005-06 and then reunited with Nelson from 2007-09 as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors.
Moncrief took a consultant position with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2009 before returning to Dallas to run the Back 2 Basics All-Star Basketball Academy.
Then along came an opportunity for Moncrief to reunite again.
"The Bucks and I have been talking for the last couple of years about possible opportunities in the organization, both on and off the court," Moncrief said. "(Bucks Vice President of Business Operations) John Steinmiller has always been very instrumental in keeping me in the loop and engaged.
"I talked to John Hammond and Scott Skiles about doing some work in camp last year and we just kind of kept in touch."
The dialogue led to Moncrief's hiring as assistant coach to fill the vacancy left when Kelvin Sampson left the Bucks to become the lead assistant with the Houston Rockets.
"It's an all-purpose assistant's job," Moncrief said. "I'm obviously joining a strong staff. I want to make the staff and the team stronger. They probably already know a lot about the team and what they want to do, but Scott Skiles always welcomes a fresh look by an 'outsider,' so one of the first things I want to do is try to provide that.
"Milwaukee was always an easy place for me to live and play, so I figured this would be a good fit. I didn't look for any other opportunities in coaching anywhere else this year or last year. Milwaukee was just a natural."
Moncrief looks forward to his homecoming.
"I do know that when I coached with the Mavericks and we played the Bucks, I had an unusual feeling," Moncrief said. "Something just didn't seem right.
"In my heart of hearts, I always wanted to come back and coach with Milwaukee."
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