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New Bucks Partnership A Crucial One

On Tuesday, the Bucks published a press release explaining their new partnership with the Milwaukee Center For Independence. Basically, the team will be hiring individuals with special needs/intellectual disabilities to run the condiment stands in the BMO Harris Bradley Center on game nights. This is a great move by the Bucks, and I applaud their commitment to the community. It is also a necessary, socially responsible move which validates the city of Milwaukee’s work to keep the team in town.

When the Bucks were being forced to either build a new stadium or literally get out of town, the team (and their fans) claimed they were an important part of the community. This type of initiative goes beyond empty talk and proves them right. Employing individuals with special needs not only provides people with the money they need to start becoming independent, but also starts to give these members of the community the respect they deserve. If the Milwaukee Bucks are employing people with intellectual disabilities, other employers might start looking closer at their own hiring practices.

To be clear, this should not be considered an act of charity, but rather following through on a commitment to the community. Having the Bucks in Milwaukee is not just about watching basketball every few nights, but it’s about a city’s pride. Every member of the community should be able to take pride in the Bucks, and that’s more easily done when the franchise shows respect towards all members of the community.

Moving forward, it will be actions like this that will make the new stadium worth it. The city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin have to hold the Bucks accountable and make sure they don’t lose sight of what’s really important: the people, whether or not they’re fans. If they can win a few games and make some noise in the league along the way, that’s just the cherry on top.