MECCA floor

MECCA Floor is a pop art painting by American artist Robert Indiana that was painted on the wooden floor used by the Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette Warriors (now Golden Eagles) basketball teams from 1977 to 1988 in both teams' home venue of the MECCA (Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena; now known as UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena).

Floor beginnings

In 1977, Robert Indiana talked with Steve Marcus about painting a floor for basketball court in Milwaukee. On October 4, 1977, the Milwaukee Bucks first game on their new floor against the Chicago Bulls. On October 18, 1977, the Bucks first Regular season game on the new floor against The Los Angeles Lakers.

Floor departures

When the Bucks and Warriors moved to the new Bradley Center in 1988, the MECCA arena floor was moved to storage, all but forgotten by the general public.

Floor return

In 2010, Bucks fans Andy Gorzalski, Jim Paschke, and John Steinmiller sent an email to Ben Koller, Robert Indiana's representative, proposing a team-up with Indiana to re-construct and re-exhibit the floor. On August 23, 2013, the MECCA Floor returned and served as the inspiration for the Milwaukee Bucks to redesign a new home court floor for their 2013-14 NBA season based on the original design. On October 26, 2017, the Bucks played on their MECCA Floor in the game against the Boston Celtics in honor of their 50th anniversary in the NBA.

Legacy

In 2014, an ESPN 30 for 30 short film was announced about the making of the MECCA floor. During the 2018-19 Bucks season, their first at Bradley Center's replacement of Fiserv Forum, they announced that they would wear the MECCA floor on Milwaukee's "City" uniform.\

Footnotes

↑ Marquette did not adopt its current nickname of Golden Eagles until 1992.

References

↑ "MECCA Floor". Retrieved April 28, 2025.
↑ "The MECCA Floor Story".
↑ Radcliffe, JR (May 23, 2024). "How the MECCA floor made Milwaukee famous". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
↑ Nelson, James B. (October 20, 2017). "Milwaukee Bucks re-create Robert Indiana's colorful MECCA floor for one game". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 4, 2017.

External links

30 for 30 Shorts "MECCA: The Floor That Made Milwaukee Famous" at IMDb

[4] Marquette did not adopt its current nickname of Golden Eagles until 1992.

[1] "MECCA Floor". Retrieved April 28, 2025.

[2] "The MECCA Floor Story".

[3] Radcliffe, JR (May 23, 2024). "How the MECCA floor made Milwaukee famous". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 16, 2025.

[Nelson_2017-11-04-5] Nelson, James B. (October 20, 2017). "Milwaukee Bucks re-create Robert Indiana's colorful MECCA floor for one game". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 4, 2017.

v t e Milwaukee Bucks
Founded in 1968 Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Franchise	History All-time roster Draft history 1968 Records Head coaches Seasons Current season
Arenas	MECCA Arena Bradley Center Fiserv Forum
Personnel	Owner(s) Wes Edens Jimmy Haslam Jamie Dinan President Josh Glessing General manager Jon Horst Head coach Taylor Jenkins
G League affiliate	Wisconsin Herd
Retired numbers	1 2 4 8 10 14 16 32 33
NBA championships	1971 2021
NBA Cup championships	2024
Culture and lore	Radio network Bally Sports Wisconsin Bango 1970–71 championship season 1974 NBA Finals MECCA floor Fear the Deer Herb Kohl
Category Commons

v t e Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Marquette Gymnasium (1922–1974) Milwaukee Arena (1974–1988) Bradley Center (1988–2018) Fiserv Forum (2018–present) Al McGuire Center (practice)
Rivalries	Wisconsin
Culture & lore	MECCA floor
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics