Why’d They Fire a Winning Coach? Milwaukee Bucks Hire Doc Rivers After Firing Adrian Griffin
Griffin posted a record of 30-13 before being fired as head coach on January 23.
There are some big changes happening for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Glenn “Doc” Rivers will leave his current position as NBA commentator for ESPN to replace Adrian Griffin who was fired as head coach after just 43 games, CBS Sports reported.
After posting a record of 30-13 in his first year with the team, which was the second-best record in the league, the Bucks announced that Griffin was relieved of his head coaching duties as on Tuesday (Jan.23).
While the timing is surprising to some, trouble has been brewing for Griffin and the Bucks since the beginning of the season. In October, when top assistant Terry Stotts resigned from his position as the top assistant after Griffin yelled at him in public at a shootaround.
In November, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly got into an argument with Griffin after he refused to come out to a game against the Boston Celtics.
During the In-Season Tournament, forward Bobby Portis reportedly got into a confrontation with Griffin in the locker room following a loss to the Indiana Pacers. Griffin admitted that his players needed to talk him out of the more aggressive scheme he tried to implement on defense early in the season.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Rivers was brought on to be an “informal consultant” to Griffin after the In-Season Tournament debacle.
When questions about Griffin’s leadership style grew louder, the Bucks decided to pull the plug on the first-year coach despite the team’s winning record.
When the news broke about Griffin’s firing, Antetokounmpo said that he was completely caught off guard but he’s on board with the move.
“At the end of the day I trust the ownership decision, I trust the front office,” Antetokounmpo said. “They’ve never done me wrong in the past. They’ve always created a great atmosphere, a great culture, a winning culture and they always did whatever was the best for the team and for us to be in a position to win. We just gotta do the same thing here. We gotta trust that this is the best decision for me and the guys. We gotta go with it. It’s trust.”
Being named the Bucks’s new coach is a homecoming of sorts for Rivers who grew up in nearby Chicago and played his college ball at Marquette University. His number 31 jersey was retired in 2004 and hangs in the rafters of the Fiserv Forum where the Bucs play home games.
In his 24 seasons as head coach, Rivers coached the Orlando Magic, winning Coach of the Year in 2000, the Boston Celtics where he won his only championship in 2008, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
As a player, Rivers enjoyed a 14-year career in the NBA, where he played for the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. He was named an All-Star in 1988.
Until Rivers officially coaches his first game for the Bucks, Joe Prunty, an assistant on the staff, will serve as interim coach.
