Lew Alcindor won three national championships at UCLA, went first in the 1969 draft to Milwaukee, which had won the pick on a coin flip with Phoenix, and was named Rookie of the Year in 1969-70. This is the card that followed.
Topps printed its basketball cards tall in 1969-70 and 1970-71, 2 1/2 by 4 11/16 inches, and then went back to the standard size. The 1970-71 set has 175 cards in two series and was the first Topps basketball set with subsets: league leaders, All-Stars and a recap of the 1970 Finals. Alcindor also appears on two of the leaders cards.
Number 75 is a head-and-shoulders portrait in a green Bucks warm-up shirt against a bright yellow ground, inside a white border, with a large basketball at the lower right carrying the words LEW ALCINDOR, center, MILWAUKEE.
The last of the tall boys, and the card of the Rookie of the Year.
The tall cards did not fit the standard boxes of the day, and many spent their years held by rubber bands. Centering varies, and the size makes wear more likely, though this card turns up in top condition more readily than his rookie.
The season it was sold, Milwaukee won the championship.
