On June 16, 1975, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman and Dave Meyers.
The trade would forever alter the course of Lakers history, as Abdul-Jabbar went on to win five championships with the franchise. The deal was completed eight months after he informed the Bucks of a desire to be traded.
Upon meeting with members of the Bucks front office in October 1974, Abdul-Jabbar had won one championship with Milwaukee and wasn’t long removed from carrying the team to a Game 7 loss in the 1973 NBA Finals.