Bucks co-Owners Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens are “strongly considering a change in the team’s traditional colors of red, green, and silver," according to Charles Gardner of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. Lasry on Friday said, "We're definitely looking at doing that (making a change). It does need a little bit of help." He said of the lack of Bucks gear in the city, "The thing that (ticks) me off is there’s no gear. I wanted to get stuff for friends back home. I went yesterday to the Bradley Center to get gear. There are a lot of things we need to do. You're going to see a whole bunch of changes." Gardner noted the Bucks “last changed teams colors” for the ’06-07 season (JSONLINE.com, 5/30). Meanwhile, Lasry said that he and Edens “hope to break
ground on a new arena sometime next summer.” Lasry: “We'd like to have a
shovel in the ground sometime between June and September of next year."
Lasry said that some of the investment brought on by prospective
local investors “could be directed toward construction” of a new arena
and added that he “hoped to identify” the investors by the June 26 NBA Draft (JSONLINE.com, 5/30).
FIVE-YEAR PLAN: In Milwaukee, Gardner wrote suddenly there is a “real buzz about the franchise again thanks to the energetic efforts” of Edens and Lasry as their two-day trip to Milwaukee last week had a “rock-star quality” to it. The visit was a “rousing start to their tenure as owners of a pro basketball franchise.” The N.Y.-based investors “know they are taking over a team that finished at the bottom of the NBA” last season and ranked last in the league in attendance. Edens and Lasry “realize the magnitude of the challenge,” and all signs are “they're rolling up their sleeves to get the job done.” Lasry: "Our view is we're going to try to do this over the next five years. We've got the best 23-and-under team, but that's not the way it works” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/1).
HELLO, WISCONSIN! In Milwaukee, Rich Kirchen notes Lasry and Edens “wasted no time introducing themselves” to area residents “through an advertising campaign that was in the works” before they closed on the acquisition of the Bucks. Bucks VP/Marketing Dustin Godsey noted that the commercials debuted on ESPN on May 20 and will continue until the NBA Finals. Godsey said, “We had been working on (the campaign) for a few weeks before the closing to have something ready when the deal was done” (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/30 issue).
