"Sidney Moncrief had been back to Milwaukee numerous times since his playing days with the Bucks ended in 1989.

But as the years passed, he found himself wondering on each return trip what it might be like to rejoin both the franchise and the community that had meant so much to him.

Last August Moncrief finally received the opportunity, when he was hired as an assistant to coach Scott Skiles. Now a few weeks into the lockout-abbreviated 2011-'12 season, he couldn't be happier.

"It's very exciting," he said Tuesday after the Bucks' shootaround at the Bradley Center. "I always like to say that you never know what life has in store for you. It's been a treat, it really has."