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In 1969 the bucks won 27 games. In 1970 after drafting Kareem they won 56 games. Jordan was drafted onto a 27 win team and it took him 5 years to get to 55. Lebron was drafted on a 19 win team and it took him multiple years to even make the playoffs.

Was that just Kareem having a goat level year?(people said he was the already best player itw in college) or was there significant change in the bucks roster that season

Dandridge was also a rookie that year. I think other than that its Kareem which shouldn't be a big surprise. He was probably already the best player in the world or close to it. Rookie Kareem was probably a full tier above rookie MJ imo and 2 tiers above LeBron though he was only 19 so its expected.

Not goat level, but a historically great rookie year for sure. The Bucks made a trade the previous season and played at a 30 win pace after that trade. Throw in Dandrige, and Kareem is probably responsible for 18ish wins I would guess, which is a lot for a rookie. 20 if were being generous.

Also, in the 2nd half of the season Kareem averaged 31.5PPG on 56~% shooting, so essentially he was already at his peak/prime level by the 2nd half of the year lol.

I'd assume that as a recent expansion team that the Bucks had a young core in 1969 that was going to get somewhat better in 1970 anyways. Add in an MVP tier player (acquired without having to trade away anyone or let other players walk) and somewhat better becomes a huge amount better.

Kareem rightfully gets the lion's share of credit, but the rest of that roster pre-Oscar always gets overlooked despite it largely being the same supporting cast that won a title the next season while being one of the most dominant teams ever. Dandridge was also an immediate impact rookie who went on to have a HoF career, and it seems that nobody's mentioned Jon McGlocklin who was an All-Star the previous season and was one of the best distance shooters of the pre-3PT line era.

Ron Swanson wrote:Kareem rightfully gets the lion's share of credit, but the rest of that roster pre-Oscar always gets overlooked despite it largely being the same supporting cast that won a title the next season while being one of the most dominant teams ever. Dandridge was also an immediate impact rookie who went on to have a HoF career, and it seems that nobody's mentioned Jon McGlocklin who was an All-Star the previous season and was one of the best distance shooters of the pre-3PT line era.

McGlocklin was an all-star because every team had one.

No love for 6-1 PG Flynn Robinson?

Had his career year for the Bucks in 1969-70 - played a career high 34 min/g, scored a career best 21.8 pts/g (2nd best on the team behind Alcindor/Jabbar), threw for a career most and team high 5.5 ast/g.

Probably most of it was Kareem, I doubt they'd have done anything as a 2nd year franchise if not for him.

Most of it was Kareem, but in general expansion teams do improve in their second season. The first season is about getting the guys to gel together. Then getting rid of guys who don't want to be, need to be or belong there. Russell retired and the Celtics dropped in wins, so did the Sixers. Nate and Wilt were injured. All of this worked in the favour of Kareem and the Bucks.