Bucks fire Adrian Griffin, targeting Doc Rivers in NBA stunner
In the most stunning development of this NBA season, the Bucks fired head coach Adrian Griffin on Tuesday.
While ESPN reported assistant coach Joe Prunty is expected to be named interim coach, Doc Rivers has emerged as a “serious leader” to replace Griffin and is working on a deal with the Bucks, according to The Athletic.
“This was a difficult decision to make during the season,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement announcing the move. “We are working immediately toward hiring our next head coach. We thank Coach Griffin for his hard work and contributions to the team.”
Griffin, 49, was just hired to be the Bucks’ coach last spring, his first NBA head coaching gig, and had Milwaukee sitting at 30-13, tied for the second-best record in the league and the Eastern Conference.
The Bucks have also won five of their last six games.
However, there were concerns about the team’s defense as the Bucks have allowed 120.5 points per game, the sixth-most in the NBA and up from the 113.3 per game they surrendered last season.
Milwaukee’s defensive rating of 116.8 is 22nd in the NBA, a major drop-off from its mark of 110.9 last season, which was fourth in the league.
Sports Illustrated reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo and other Bucks veterans “had lost faith in Griffin,” months after Antetokounmpo signed a three-year, $186 million contract extension with Milwaukee.
Griffin, who played nine seasons in the NBA, began his coaching career with the Bucks as an assistant in 2008 and later had stints as an assistant for the Bulls, Magic, Thunder and most recently the Raptors, where he was part of the staff that won the NBA championship in 2019.
Rivers, 62, is currently on ESPN’s top NBA broadcast team after he was fired by the 76ers in the spring following a second-round loss to the Celtics.
Rivers has gone 11 straight seasons without leading a team to a conference finals.
After a five-year run with the Magic, Rivers was hired in 2004 by the Celtics and won the 2008 NBA championship.
Following nine seasons in Boston, the Clippers traded for Rivers in 2013 and made the playoffs in six of his seven years in Los Angeles, but he stepped down after the 2019-20 season.
The Sixers lost in the second round in each of Rivers’ three seasons in Philadelphia.
The Bucks, who won their first NBA championship in 50 years three years ago under Mike Budenholzer — who was fired after last season’s first-round loss to the Heat — shook up their roster before the season by acquiring longtime Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.
Milwaukee sent All-Star and defensive stalwart Jrue Holliday to the Blazers, who quickly flipped him to the Celtics, currently the NBA’s top team at 34-10.
The result has been a leaky Bucks defense that, despite a strong record, was worrisome enough to team brass that they felt compelled to make Tuesday’s drastic move.
— With AP
