‘I Just Love Them’: Bucks Fans Celebrate Finals Win in Deer District

The Bucks Pro Shop line stretched down the block as fans clamored for championship merchandise.

Only a handful of hours after the Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship, fans again flocked to the Deer District to celebrate the historic victory. 

There weren’t 100,000 people outside like the night before, but the line to the Bucks Pro Shop Wednesday morning was out the door and down the block to purchase apparel. One woman said she waited 45 minutes to get T-shirts for her family. 

The last time the Bucks won the NBA championship was 50 years ago, in April 1971. 

“It was super fun, because I’ve been a Bucks fan since I was a kid, and finally just to see them make it all the way was pretty cool,” Bucks fan Jeff Sommerfeldt said. He and his wife, Lora, watched the game at a bar last night but came down to the Deer District Wednesday morning to take pictures at the Fiserv Forum. 

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As the game ended and the Bucks hoisted the Larry O’Brien championship trophy above their heads, fans Lucy Mentkowski and Elena McKendrick were in disbelief. Mentkowski said they began crying because they didn’t think it was going to happen.

Fiserv Forum employees are now preparing for the parade celebration on Thursday. By 10 a.m. on Wednesday, they had almost finished replacing the NBA Finals banner on the side of the building with a new one that reads “History Made,” instead of “History In The Making.” 

Milwaukee native Denise Holmes was at the Deer District on Wednesday morning to get T-shirts for herself and her family. 

“I’ve been ignoring the Bucks, and I always said I ain’t gonna be with the Bucks. They get halfway, they get you all hyped and then they lose. But this time, they came all the way,” Holmes said. “I’m coming to the parade; I got T-shirts for everybody. I am so excited. I love Giannis, but I love that [Jrue] Holiday too. I just love them all.”

The Slama-Catron family from Sandy, Utah was originally just visiting family in Wisconsin, but they rerouted their trip so they could watch Game 6 at the Deer District. Scott Catron is from Milwaukee originally. 

“It was a coincidence. We’re here visiting family, and it just so happened that we won Game 4, and we were like ‘Oh my gosh.’ We rearranged our plans to be here,” Catron said. 

The parade will start at 11 a.m. Thursday on East Wisconsin Avenue and end at North Edison Street. There will also be a celebration viewing area in the Deer District next to Fiserv Forum.