Jim Paschke (left) and Jon McGlocklin have been calling Bucks games since 1986. Credit: Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Bucks

Little did anyone know, when Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin worked their first Milwaukee Bucks game together on Oct. 31, 1986, that they would still be going strong 30 years later.

After more than 1,500 games and a few million words as a TV broadcast team, McGlocklin and Paschke are as closely identified with the franchise as any player who has donned a Bucks uniform.

Their longevity is due in equal parts to talent, passion and chemistry — the latter an elusive quality and one that can't be forced.

"I don't know how it happened, but it was pretty natural," Paschke said. "We just had it."

They've had a remarkable run, equaled in the NBA only by the Boston Celtics' TV tandem of Mike Gorman and Tom Heinsohn. The Bucks plan to honor McGlocklin and Paschke for their 30 years together during a halftime ceremony of the game March 17 against Memphis at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

They won't be getting gold watches and rocking chairs, though. This is no retirement ceremony.

McGlocklin, 72, a member of the first Bucks team in 1968-'69 and the color analyst who bleeds hunter green — or whatever newfangled colors the team wears these days — has cut back his schedule in recent years but still will work 28 games this season on Fox Sports Wisconsin, all but four at home.

Paschke, 65, the play-by-play man and a pro's pro, gives up his seat some nights to Gus Johnson and is fine with it.

"I'm identified with this job, but I don't identify myself with this job," Paschke said. "If I need this to be Jim Paschke, I'm in trouble. If I'm going to do 57 games, as I am this year instead of 80, I'm going to do 57 the best I can.

"I'm a team guy. It's not a problem. While Jon and I have had a great run together, a change of pace is not bad."

McGlocklin and Paschke started during Don Nelson's final season as coach, two years before the Bradley Center opened. The first game they called, in Detroit, marked the debut of Jack Sikma as the Bucks' center and the rookie debuts of Scott Skiles and Dennis Rodman.

The Bucks went 50-32 that year; only once since has the team won 50 or more games. In other words, McGlocklin and Paschke have seen a lot of bad basketball.

"Have I enjoyed every game? No," McGlocklin said. "We've had a lot of losing seasons. A lot of times this job is a grind from that standpoint. I do the game as a Milwaukee Buck. I want to win the game."

About 10 years ago, he became so frustrated with what he thought was lackluster effort by the Bucks that he ripped off his headset and smashed it on the table in front of him. The game had to be stopped while little pieces of plastic were swept off the court.

"In the (production) truck they were going, 'What happened, Jim? What happened?' Because all they heard was bam," McGlocklin said. "To this day, people come up to me and talk about that. The fans loved it because I was showing passion. I was mad."

Once, during the George Karl era, the Bucks were playing miserably and getting blown out and Karl turned to McGlocklin and Paschke and said, "You two have the toughest job in the building tonight."

"We said, 'Thank you, Coach. You're right,'" McGlocklin said. "He realized it, and he was the coach."

As Bucks employees, though, they have to walk the line between being candid and truthful with viewers but not harshly critical of the team or individual players. Paschke has a background as a TV sports director and brings journalistic integrity to his job as an entertainer. Their style is to point out mistakes without harping on them.

"There's something to be said about doing things the right way, with class and dignity," Johnson said. "They can be critical without being harmful."

McGlocklin said the team has never admonished them for anything they've said on the air. The same can't be said of players' wives and girlfriends.

Fans, of course, have their own opinions. Paschke and McGlocklin have their share of critics. People have gotten in their grill, as Jonny Mac might say, for one mistake in a two-hour live telecast. Social media has been, at times, particularly unkind. No surprise there.

"There's criticism all the time," Paschke said. "Where is it coming from? It seems like it's a huge number of people. It probably isn't, or we wouldn't be working. If you take that to heart, it affects you."

The bottom line is that both guys love what they do and both have been good at it for a long time. They go together like Oscar and Kareem.

"They're an extraordinary team," said Tom Carelli, senior vice president of broadcasting for the NBA. "Jon is a legend. He's a link to the (1971) championship team. He's been around the team and the community forever. Guys like that, you can't question their basketball chops.

"I'm a huge fan of Jim Paschke for the commitment and experience he brings to the Bucks' telecast. For me, he's been an extraordinary resource. He's been a tremendous contact for me to reach out to."

Said Johnson, "They're institutions. Plus, they're good men."

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